It’s set to be a unique year in the annals of the all-weather friendship between India and Bhutan. As President Pranab Mukherjee heads on his maiden trip to the strategically located Himalayan state early November, the timeless and exemplary relationship between
the two fraternal neigbours will once again be in the spotlight. The presidential visit underlines a confluence of civilizational, economic and geostrategic imperatives that grounds special ties between the world’s largest and youngest democracies. 2014 is,
therefore, set to be a watershed year as this is the first time the president and the prime minister of India would have visited this Himalayan nation, which prefers to measure its national wealth in terms of gross national happiness, within months of each
other.
With the new Indian government’s proactive pursuit of neighbourhood first policy, the engagement with Bhutan started from the word go – barely a day after he was sworn in, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi held talks with his Bhutanese counterpart Tshering
Tobgay in New Delhi and reaffirmed the centrality of the India-Bhutan friendship in India’s foreign policy calculus. And barely a month after taking charge, Prime Minister Modi travelled on his first foreign trip to Bhutan. Speaking to legislators in Bhutan’s
parliament in Thimphu on June 16, Mr Modi spoke from the heart and stressed that he might have considered going to bigger developed nations, but "my inner voice said that my first foreign visit as the Prime Minister of India should be to Bhutan.” "I did not
spend a lot of time thinking about it or planning it; it was a natural thing for me to do,” he said. The key word here is "natural,” and underscored the organic nature of the India-Bhutan relations, which are underpinned by not just diplomacy or strategy,
but by centuries of Buddhism-inspired civilizational links and people-to-people contacts. In other words, while the head rules in the world of real-politick, the India-Bhutan relationship is a union of hearts and minds.Partnering Bhutan’s transformation

These glowing expressions would appear florid if there was no solid context to them. But in this case, the sheer range of the India-Bhutan relationship, which encompasses mutually empowering development and energy partnership, tells its own story. Partnering
Bhutan’s developmental journey and national resurgence remains the core motif and driving force of India’s Bhutan policy. India remains Bhutan’s largest development and trading partner. India has generously deployed funds and expertise for an entire array
of landmark projects, including the airport at Paro, the Bhutan Broadcasting Station, the Bhutan-India microwave link, 1 million-tonne Dungsum Cement Plant, Bhutan Institute of Medical Sciences, and all exploration, survey and mapping of mineral resources.

India’s sizeable financial assistance to Bhutan’s five year plans telescopes special partnership between the two countries. The Indian government provided over Rs. 5000 crores for the 10th FYP. Out of this, Rs. 2000 crores was project tied assistance focused
on 70 projects spanning key socio-economic sectors such as agriculture, ICT, media, health/ hospitals, education/schools, capacity building, energy, culture and infrastructure. Small development projects have had an enormous transformative impact on the lives
of Bhutanese people.

Energising Ties
Hydropower cooperation underlines the win-win nature of India-Bhutan relations. The cascading rivers of Bhutan, with a combined hydropower potential of 35,000 MW, have forged a unique partnership of co-prosperity, with power generated in Bhutan lighting up
countless homes and smiles in Bihar, West Bengal and Delhi. India has pledged to buy 10,000 MW by 2020, making Bhutan perhaps the only country in South Asia which enjoys trade surplus with New Delhi. Three more HEPs totalling 2940 MW, i.e., the 1200 MW Punatsangchu-I
HEP, the 1020 MW Punatsangchu-II HEP and the 720 MW Mangdehchu HEP, are under construction, and are scheduled to be commissioned by 2018.

New Horizons

Looking ahead, the India-Bhutan relations, which were modernised after the signing of a revised Treaty of Friendship in 2007, are set to evolve dynamically. Amid reports of forays by a neighbouring Asian country and the potential terror threat, the two countries
have renewed their pledge not to allow each other’s territory to be used for interests inimical to the other. Responding to surging aspirations of the younger generation in Bhutan, India has made education, IT and capacity building key facets of its burgeoning
engagement with a new renascent Bhutan. The doubling of the Nehru Wangchuck Scholarship and the Indian government’s support for the establishment of E-Library in the National Library of Bhutan and in all the 20 districts of Bhutan promises to build an enduring
knowledge bridge between the two countries. Innovative ideas, unveiled by Prime Minister Modi during his trip to Bhutan, like joint tourism packages for India’s north-eastern states and Bhutan and proactively partnering with Bhutan in preserving the Himalayan
eco-system show the new possibilities of enriching this unique relationship.

President Mukherjee’s forthcoming visit to Bhutan will build on these winning ideas and reinforce the template of B4B - Bharat for Bhutan and Bhutan for Bharat – which has been eloquently articulated by Prime Minister Modi. This idea of intertwined destinies
has been aptly encapsulated by Bhutan’s king, who has said memorably: "My bond with India is for life, for it arises from two loves — my love for India and, my love for Bhutan and my people.” This sense of deep fraternal bonding and synergy of interests will
endure amid the relentless flux of time and gain new force in days to come.

(Manish Chand is Editor-in-Chief of India Writes Network,www.indiawrites.org, a portal and e-journal focused on international affairs and the India Story)
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MEA2419124132180th Anniversary of arrival of Indian indentured labour in Mauritius*By Ambassador Bhaswati Mukherjee

(A dilapidated complex of buildings at Aapravasi Ghat in Port Louis)
Towards the establishment of an International Indentured Labour Route

An international Conference with Ministerial level participation from India is being held in Port Louis, Mauritius, from 2nd to 4th November, 2014 to mark the 180th Anniversary of the first arrival of Indian indentured labour in Mauritius at Aapravasi Ghat
on 2nd November 180 years ago. It will trace the journey of the indentured labour from India to Mauritius after the abolition of slavery in 1834, a journey which poignantly highlights the history of modern Mauritius itself which is entwined with our own history.
It marks the point where the indentured labour, drawn mainly from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh provinces but also from Southern Provinces of colonial India, passed through the gate of Aapravasi Ghat, either to stay on in Mauritius to work as indentured labour in
the sugar plantations or elsewhere, or to sail on to further destinations, such as Guyana, Suriname and Reunion Island. As India’s President, His Excellency Pranab Mukherjee said during his last visit to Mauritius on 12 March 2013:

The visit to this historic Heritage site of Aapravasi Ghat, where brave men and women from India and other shores first set foot in Mauritius when they arrived here more than 175 years ago, would remain etched in my memory. Aapravasi Ghat represents, in the
most sublime way, the triumph of the human spirit in the face of all odds. It stands as a monument to the memory of these valiant men and women. Their immense courage, will and perseverance have shaped the Mauritius of today

(A commemorative Plaque at Aapravasi Ghat in Mauritius) This Conference,
chaired by the Prime Minister of Mauritius, where our External Affairs Minister will be an honoured guest and will deliver an important statement, is a timely initiative. It complements the Slave Route Project which also relates to the movement of a mass of
people across continents. It will pay homage to these memories, of the pain and suffering endured by more than 462,000 men, women and children, mainly from India but also from many other countries in different parts of the Indian Ocean world, who set foot
on Mauritian shores at Aapravasi Ghat. Mauritius is unique for another reason. It is the only country in the world that has two UNESCO sites, one dedicated to resistance to slavery, Le Morne, and the other to indentured labour, the Aapravasi Ghat. Clearly,
such a dialogue on the global post-colonial heritage, of both slavery and indentured, contributes to the universal dialogue on Humanism of Diversity, since it promotes a better understanding of the common cultural and civilizational links between peoples and
thus strengthens cultural diversity and enriches humanity.

(Le Morne, a UNESCO recognized World Heritage Site of Mauritius) How did
it begin? With the abolition of slavery in 1833 in Britain and with its implementation in 1835 in Mauritius, the British turned to India to work on the sugar plantations to perpetuate their colonial domination in the hey-day of the industrial revolution and
the nascent days of capitalism. There started to be written in the annals of human history one of the most massive migrations of Indian labour. It marks the beginning of an odyssey across theKalapani, a sad journey of
exile across the tempest tossed Indian Ocean. The recruiters known asSirdarsorMistries played their role in luring away these credulous, innocent coolies, many of whom believed that
theMirich Desh (Mauritius) was just to the north of North India. What is the nature of indenture? The Oxford English Dictionary defines it as a formal agreement binding an apprentice to a master, or a contract by which
a person agrees to work for a set period for a colonial land-owner. Thus, the indenture was not based on the principle of equality or natural justice. However, the Great Experiment, as it was called, which was first established in Mauritius in 1834 was deemed
to be a great success by the former colonial powers. It resulted in the former colonial countries to recruit indentured labour in other parts of the world for their colonies. Today these independent States comprise some of the 22 countries on the International
Indentured Labour Route Project.

(Remains of kitchen block at Aapravasi Ghat in Mauritius) With this background,
it was only fitting that Aapravasi Ghat should be inscribed on the World Heritage List since it fulfils criteria (vi) of UNESCO’s Operational Guidelines. The Decision adopted (30 COM 8B.33) in its Operative Paragraph 2 states:

Aapravasi Ghat, as the first site chosen by the British Government in 1834 for the ‘great experiment’ in the use of indentured, rather than slave labour, is strongly associated with memories of almost half a million indentured labours moving from India to Mauritius
to work on sugar canes plantations or to be transhipped to other parts of the World.

As Ambassador of India to UNESCO and India’s Representative on the World Heritage Committee, I was privileged to argue the case for the African Group and for Mauritius at the Meeting of the Committee in Vilnius, Lithuania, in 06. Despite efforts by the Advisory
Body to argue that there was no Indentured Route and that the Indian labour coming to Mauritius and other destinations were seeking a better future through modern immigration, Mauritius and India convincingly made the case as explained above that indentured
labour’s passage to Aapravasi Ghat could not be compared with modern immigration as we understand it and that its OUV [Outstanding Universal Value] was intact and represented a significant historic memory to the world, similar to the Slave Route. Accordingly,
and despite a negative recommendation given by the Advisory Body, this site was inscribed by acclamation, representing a great victory for India and Mauritius and also for international recognition of the indentured labour heritage. The World Heritage Committee
also recommended that Mauritius, as the concerned State Party and other interested States, specially India, undertake research on indentured labour to understand its scope and impact globally and to consider the possibility of inscribing the Aapravasi Ghat
archives for UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register. This Conference marks an effort to carry these recommendations forward.

This Conference represents an important step forward in the quest to understand the global nature of the phenomenon of indenture. This Conference fulfils the need for the indentured experience in other countries to be better known. The International Indentured
Labour Route will bring together all countries having experienced the migration of contractual labour in the 19th century when the world economic order was being transformed in the manner we know it today and to create a network of persons, institutions who
will collaborate, share and disseminate knowledge about the indentured system, the history and culture of its descendants and contribute to the nation building process in their countries as appropriate.

It is unfortunate that scholarship in this field of inquiry is marked by the frequent failure of scholars and intellectuals to transcend the geographical and conceptual parochialism that has become a hallmark of contemporary plantation studies in general and
indentured labour studies in particular. Equally unfortunate is the lack of interest internationally in the Indentured Labour Route, despite its acknowledged role in shaping the contours of socio-economic, cultural, and political life and contributing to vibrant
democracy such as in Mauritius, in the post-colonial era. This Conference will help to highlight the need for the constitution of an international network of scholars working on indentured labour for the purpose of fostering new perspectives on these systems
and deepening our understanding of the indentured experience in all its complexity.

The expected outputs of the Indentured Labour Route Project which are of direct relevance to India are to:

Encourage the development of research and the setting up of a documentation centre and database on the indentured labour migration across the world;

Create a network of persons, institutions who will collaborate, share and disseminate knowledge about the indentured system, the history and culture of its descendants ;

Locate and preserve cultural heritage sites relating to indenture and place them on the Indenture Route;

The Conference with India’s support will address many difficult issues, to better understand the legacy of indentured labour, both in the countries of origin and their final destination in the social, economic and cultural context. It will reflect on the nature
of post-indentured identity formation in different parts of the world and how it is leading to the development of trans-national identities in the world of today and finally, what has been the relationship between indentured labour and ethnocentrism i.e. the
need to prevent ethnic labelling and stereotyping so as to prevent development of ethnic boundaries, a development that has been closely studied by the scholars of the Slave Route.

The Conference underlines the continuing validity of Mahatma Gandhi’s rejection of both slavery and indenture. Gandhiji said :

How can one be compelled to accept slavery?
I simply refuse to do the master’s bidding.
He may torture me, break my bones to atoms and even kill me.
He will then have my dead body, not my obedience.
Ultimately, therefore, it is I who am the victor and not he,
For he has failed in getting me to do what he wanted done.

(Ambassador Bhaswati Mukherjee)*[The author, a former diplomat,
was Permanent Representative of India to UNESCO (2004-2010). This article has been written exclusively for the ‘In Focus” section of Ministry of External Affairs' website,www.mea.gov.in]
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MEA2413224084Why Latin America​By Deepak Bhojwani

Independent India has always punched above its weight diplomatically. The economic reforms of the 1990s provided the much needed economic weight to our stature. Bold diplomatic outreach, like the Look East policy, added substance to our status of emerging power.
New Missions and Consulates, in Africa and elsewhere; enhanced relations with important countries such as China, Saudi Arabia, a resurgent Russia and others provided added momentum.

Prime Minister Modi’s government seized the baton this May from a flagging forerunner. The stretch run thus far has inspired us to expect another quantum diplomatic leap. The preference for substance over form is unexceptionable in established dealings with
set agendas. The challenge is to set an agenda with countries and regions where our relations may be relatively trouble-free but under-exploited.

The thirty-three countries of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) present a diverse and complex diplomatic challenge. Geographic distance is complicated by a comparative lack of historic, cultural/linguistic, and diaspora connections that India shares with
almost all other regions, in greater or lesser measure. We justifiably nurture the bond with Indian origin communities in the Eastern Caribbean. We need now to concentrate on Latin America, five times the size of India, with 600 million inhabitants enjoying
a per capita income over US$ 11,000. Select Indian circles are aware of the region’s massive resource base of energy, minerals, arable land and biodiversity.

Pandit Nehru visited Mexico in 1961. Indira Gandhi’s odyssey to eight Latin American countries in 1968 stands out as the high point of Indian diplomacy with that region. A handful of subsequent PM level visits to that region have been primarily for multilateral
events. More recently, we have had a few visits by Indian Presidents and Vice Presidents to Latin America.

PM Modi visited Brazil for the BRICS Summit last July,. He had bilateral talks with Brazil’s President but could not possibly avail the oportunity to personally meet all the eleven other South American leaders invited as guests. He nevertheless remembers meeting
the LAC Heads of Mission in India twice. The MEA now has a Spl. Secretary dealing almost exclusively with Latin America and the Caribbean.

Leaders of BRICS countries and South American countries meet on the sidelines
of ​ ​6th BRICS Summit in Brasilia, Brazil​ In the first five decades after our Independence, there were only thirteen Presidential visits from Latin America to India (Latin American Presidents are heads of State and Government). Over the past
decade there have been a dozen. Several more requests could not be accomodated due to scheduling problems apparently.

The ‘Troika’ of Foreign Ministers of Chile, Venezuela and Cuba, representing the newly formed Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) met our External Affairs Minister in August 2012. The Joint Declaration promised a new beginning in our relations
with this pan-regional organisation, which brings all thirty-three countries under the same umbrella. In February this year India acquired observer status with the dynamic Pacific Alliance, comprising Mexico, Colombia, Peru and Chile. External Affairs Minister
Sushma Swaraj met the quartet of Foreign Ministers representing CELAC in New York in September. In the coming days, she will receive the Foreign Ministers of Guatemala and Mexico in Delhi.

The then External Affairs Minister with the then Minister of State Shri E. Ahamed
& Foreign Ministers of Chile, Venezuela and Vice Foreign Minister of Cuba at the First CELAC Ministerial TROIKA meeting at New Delhi (August 7, 2012) While there is no question about the political interest that India’s status has aroused, an
economically vibrant and self-confident Latin America is also reaching out to the world, primarily China and Russia. Presidents Xi Jinping and Putin visited three other countries each in the region, before and after the BRICS Summit. China’s Foreign Ministerial
dialogue with the CELAC Quartet is being elevated to Summit level. China, Russia, and increasingly Japan, South Korea and ASEAN, are investing heavily all over Latin America. Why are they according such a high priority to this region? India’s own experience
provides the answer.
India’s trade with LAC has grown exponentially this century, from less than US$ 2 billion in 2000-1 to approximately $46 billion in 2013-14. India imported almost $33 billion and exported around $13 billion worth. Most of our imports consist of crude oil, minerals
and edible oils. Five Latin American countries account for almost twenty percent of our crude oil imports today. The gradual opening of these economies invites partnership by foreign investors. This is the model China has adopted. It is also being followed
by Indian companies like ONGC, Reliance, BPCL, Videocon, Shree Renuka Sugars, Birlas and others.

India’s exports to Latin America have grown at a robust rate, despite recent volatility. Indian pharmaceuticals, automobiles, textiles, chemicals, machinery and other value added products have found dedicated customers all over the region. Indian companies
- UPL, Godrej, Hero and others – have bought local companies or invested in greenfield projects. Over a dozen Indian software companies employ from a few dozen to several thousand software professionals in development and delivery centres all over Latin America.
Latin America offers an essential alternative source for our fuel and raw material needs, and new markets for value-added exports of our goods and services, in an increasingly insecure and volatile international environment.

This has attracted sufficient attention for establishments on both sides to consider negotiating new, and deepening existing, preferential trade agreements. India’s geographic and other handicaps in Latin America can be partially overcome if we provide increased
access for our exporters to Brazil, Chile, Peru, Colombia and several other promising markets. Currently our exports account for less than two percent of Latin America’s total imports. Lack of adequate air and maritime connections also hampers trade. We also
need to ensure better connectivity to promote tourism. There is a desire to get to know and experience each other’s cultures being propagated by a vibrant Indo-Latin community.

Indian investment, estimated at $ 20 billion, has been slow to come to Latin America, when compared with Africa. This could be because of the distance, language barriers, lack of shared history and familiarity. Our engagement with Africa, however, has a lot
to do with official attention and patronage. India hosts the third India-Africa Summit in 2015. A combined Summit with Latin American countries is not even on the horizon. India has committed $8.5 billion in project and related assistance to Africa, of which
sixty-five percent has been disbursed. In contrast our development partnership with Latin America has accounted for less than $200 million till date. Much of this has been through direct cash donations or lines of credit to purchase Indian products. Indian
companies understandably lack experience in executing projects in Latin America, unlike the Chinese.
This week, several Latin American delegations, some headed by Ministers, will be in Delhi for the India-Latin America Investment Conclave organised by FICCI. The mutual interest in trade and investment is beginning to receive official attention.
The political spin-offs are guaranteed. The reciprocal presence of institutions and companies on both sides, joint ventures, timely and focussed attention to a well organised calendar of bilateral visits, will ensure that India acquires a higher profile. We
partner Brazil in IBSA and BRICS. We share platforms with Brazil, Mexico and Argentina in the G20, and with several like-minded LAC countries in climate change negotiations, WTO, etc. Regional groupings in South and Central America and the Caribbean serve
as valuable interlocutors. These linkages, combined with the lobbies of Latin American companies investing in India, will strengthen India’s foundations in the region.

The absence of political disagreement with Latin America leaves the field open for positive engagement. The bridges we build will endure and enable Indian business and other interests to cross over and operate in that region with greater ease. The need to engage
the LAC region bilaterally, collectively and concertedly, at all levels, as we have done with Africa and South East Asia, is evident.

(The views expressed above are the personal views of the writer)

[The author, a former diplomat was Ambassador of India to Colombia and Cuba. This article has been written exclusively for ‘In Focus” section of Ministry of External Affairs website,www.mea.gov.in
]
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MEA2408424035India &amp; US: Shaping the 21st centuryBy Manish Chand

(Prime Minister embarks on his five-day visit to USA, on September 25, 2014)Fast-track diplomacy and smart development-centric diplomacy are the twin mantra of the new government in Delhi. Starting from hosting the leaders of South Asian neighbours to engaging key Asian partners, China and Japan, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi is now headed for the US on a defining trip that is set to infuse "the defining partnership of the 21st century” with a new burst of energy and vitality. Spectacle, colour, high diplomacy, culture, commerce and creativity – all these varied elements are going to be fused into Prime Minister Modi’s maiden voyage to America (Sept 26-30), which is poised to be a blockbuster diplomatic event.

New Horizons There are several firsts to this prime ministerial trip: This will be not only the first visit of Narendra Modi as the Prime minister of India, but it will also be his first meeting with US President Barack Obama. Mr Modi will also become the first foreign leader to be given the largest-ever community reception in the heart of New York City - around 20,000-odd Indian-Americans will be listening in to the Indian leader at the Madison Square Garden, the iconic venue better known for celebrity rock stars and singers performing on its grand stage. This will also be the first time when an Indian leader’s speech will be beamed live on giant screens at Time Square, the pulsating heart of Manhattan which is frequented by thousands of people every day. This is also the first time the US Senate has designated September 30 as the day of India-US Partnership, which has coincided with the day Prime Minister Modi will meet President Obama in Washington for full-spectrum talks.

(US Secretary of State John Kerry calls on Prime Minister in New Delhi on August 01, 2014)In the run-up to the prime ministerial visits, senior figures of the US administration have visited India in the first 100 days of the Modi government, including US Secretary of State John Kerry, Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel, Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker and Deputy Secretary of State William Burns. They held wide-ranging talks in New Delhi, which have firmed up an ambitious agenda for making the summit meeting between the leaders of the world’s oldest and most populous democracies substantive and successful.

Raising the Bar Many issues will be competing for the leaders’ mind space, but one can safely say that their overarching focus will be to impart a renewed momentum to the India-US relationship, which was transformed after the path-breaking civil nuclear deal of 2008, converting the hitherto estranged democracies into engaged democracies. While the nuclear deal, also called the 123 agreement, remains a work in progress, proponents of stronger India-US relations say it’s time for 456, indicating a common desire to raise the bar for the relationship which is seen as central to ongoing effort to shape an inclusive and pluralistic 21st century world order.

Business Diplomacy With a business-friendly Prime minister in charge of Asia’s third largest economy, the focus will be on business and widening the arc of co-prosperity to create new win-win opportunities for both sides. This will be reflected in Prime Minister Modi’s interaction with top American CEOs, separately in New York and Washington. In these meetings, the Indian leader, armed with the largest parliamentary majority in the last three decades, is expected to make a robust pitch for attracting American investments and seek the participation of US capital and expertise to actualise his vision of making India a manufacturing powerhouse and building 100 smart cities. Sending positive signals to the global investor community, the FDI cap in the insurance sector has already been raised to 49 per cent. The defence sector has also been opened up to foreign investment. In return, India is expecting the US establishment to show some flexibility to accommodate India’s interests and concerns vis-à-vis the IPR regime’s application to life-saving generic drugs and visa fee for Indian IT professionals.

In the economic arena, the sky is virtually the limit, with the new government walking the talk on economic reforms. The US is India’s largest trading partner. The two sides are now looking to multiply bilateral trade five-fold to $500 billion. The trade balance is in India’s favour. The US is already the fifth largest source of foreign direct investments into India, with cumulative FDI inflows from the US from April 2000 to March 2014 amounting to about $ 11.92 billion. Indian companies have invested over US $ 17 billion in the US in the last few years.

(US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel calls on the Prime Minister in New Delhi on August 08, 2014)Upswing in defence ties The defence ties are on an upswing. In September 2013, the two sides signed a Joint Declaration on Defence Cooperation, which envisages qualitatively upgrading the defence relationship by simplifying technology transfer policies and exploring possibilities of co-development and co-production of defence systems. The two sides are expected to renew their defence framework agreement during the forthcoming visit.

Counter-terror cooperation Against the backdrop of the unfolding transition in Afghanistan and the proliferation of terrorist threats in Iraq and the Middle East, counter-terror and security cooperation are expected to get a boost in the forthcoming talks. This will be reflected in the symbolic visit of Mr Modi to Ground Zero, the site of the World Trade Centre in New York which was targeted by barbaric terror strikes on September 11, 2001 and the newly-inaugurated 9/11 Museum and Memorial.

(External Affairs Minister and US Secretary of State John F. Kerry co-chair 5th India-US Strategic Dialogue in New Delhi on July 31, 2014)Global Partnership With 36 bilateral dialogue mechanisms straddling diverse areas and a growing convergence of interests across the arc of the globe spanning from Africa to Afghanistan, this is the turning point for the multi-faceted India-US relations.

With an arc of instability widening around the world, one can expect some focussed discussions on a wide array of regional and global hotspots, including Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq and the volatile situation in the Middle East. This burgeoning cooperation on region global issues makes the India-US partnership truly global and strategic. In an interview to Fareed Zakaria of CNN, Mr Modi has underlined the global compass of the India-US cooperation. "Relations between India and America should not be seen within the limits of just Delhi and Washington. It’s a much larger sphere. The good thing is that the mood of both Delhi and Washington is in harmony with this understanding. Both sides have played a role in this.” Underlining that India and the US are bound together, by history and culture, the Prime minister voiced confidence that "these ties will deepen further.”

Mapping the way ahead There is, therefore, strong political will on both sides to make this critically important relationship work, and acquire new energy and vibrancy in days to come. In countless ways, the narratives of the India Story and the American Dream are getting fused. Over 100,000 Indian students studying in various American universities and the 3-million strong Indian diaspora in the US exemplify the intertwining of the Indian and American dreams. Above all, where the India-US relations score is in the unparalleled scale of people-to-people contacts, with burgeoning linkages in the fields of education, research and innovation. And it is in these areas the action lies in the future.

Tradition, Talent, Tourism, Trade and Technology - these 5 Ts which Prime Minister Modi has spelt out as part of his long-term vision of revitalising Brand India and the India Story can get a boost from closer partnership with the US. The US, too, is looking at India as a burgeoning market, a hub of innovation and a rising Asian power. The situation is ripe for dreaming big, and making the defining partnership of the 21st century deliver new possibilities for 1.5 billion people of India and the United States of America.

(Manish Chand is Editor-in-Chief of India Writes Network,www.indiawrites.org, a portal and e-journal focused on international affairs and the India Story).

A for Asia. B for Business. C for Culture. And D for Diplomacy and Development. This is the emerging alphabet of multi-faceted engagement between the two Asian powers which are forging a new vocabulary and semantics to script new pathways of cooperation and
to reconfigure the evolving world order. The ABCD of India-China relations will find fuller articulation in the September 17-19 visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to India, a potentially defining trip which could transform ties between the two Asian neighbours
and create new opportunities for their 2.5 billion people, one third of the world’s humanity.

Why Modi-Xi summit matters

When the leaders of India and China hold talks, the world will be watching closely, and not without reason. They are, after all, Asia’s leading economies with a combined GDP of over $11 trillion and proactive stakeholders in crafting an inclusive international
world order. This time round, there is a new configuration, which promises to invest the maiden full-spectrum summit between India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and China’s Xi Jinping with an added resonance: on both sides, there are strong-willed leaders
who are armed with an unambiguous mandate to take decisive initiatives and are crafting a new chapter in national resurgence of their respective countries. Xi Jinping is widely seen as China’s most powerful leader since Mao Zedong as he holds the triumvirate
of positions within the Chinese establishment that confers him near absolute power: he is the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, the president of the state and chairman of the Central Military Commission. Narendra Modi, on the other hand, is
the first India head of government to command a clear parliamentary majority in the last quarter of a century, liberating him from the fret and fever of coalition politics. Translated into simple terms, it means both leaders have the power to walk the talk.
Prime Minister Modi’s connection to China dates back to his days as Gujarat chief minister during which he travelled to China four times and managed to net investments running into millions of dollars into his state. The two leaders struck good equations when
they first met on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Fortaleza in July this year. And they are known to admire and hold each other in high regard. This personal chemistry, backed by a synergy of interests, gives both leaders space to build a lasting relationship
between the two emerging Asian powers.

Prime Minister meets President Xi Jinping of China in Fortaliza, Brazil on the sidelines
of 6th BRICS Summit (July 14, 2014)Pragmatism: Business & Development

Coming back to the ABCD, Business and Development will be the key highlights of the Modi-Xi summit meeting. The talks between the leaders of the world’s two most populous countries will renew the focus on sustaining a new pragmatic model of relationship, which
means not letting complex and difficult issues like the decades-old boundary dispute coming in the way of developing and expanding relationship in other areas, be it economic, military and cultural. This imaginative and flexible approach has yielded rich dividends:
bilateral trade between India and China has exceeded $65 billion and the two countries are not leaving any stone unturned to scale it up to $100 billion in the not-too-distant future. The burgeoning economic relationship, however, has its flip side: a ballooning
trade imbalance of over $30 billion. To bridge this trade imbalance, India is looking to get China to grant market access to Indian IT and pharma companies.

With India’s infrastructure sector hungry for investment and expertise, China has an unprecedented opportunity to partner India in its developmental journey. China is looking to set up dedicated industrial parks in India catering to Chinese companies, help
modernise Indian Railways and scale up investments in Asia’s third largest economy. Taking off from their strategic economic dialogue, the two countries are now aiming at structural transformation in their economic ties, from the buyer-seller model to a more
enduring investment-driven model. Investments are currently abysmally low: China, which boasts of over $3 trillion in foreign exchange reserves, has invested less than a billion dollars into the emerging market of India. Against this backdrop, one can expect
the unveiling of mega investment plans by the Chinese president, and at least two Chinese industrial parks in Gujarat and Maharashtra. China, which is known as the factory of the world, is expected to lend its expertise in assisting the transformation of India,
the office of the world, into a manufacturing powerhouse, a key priority of the new government in New Delhi.

Building Trust

While big-ticket economic pacts look set to steal the limelight, the two leaders will also be looking to deepen strategic trust and widen the arc of understanding on issues that are central to their core interests. Maintaining peace and tranquillity on the
un-demarcated boundary will be on top of the agenda. In the previous summit meetings, India had underlined that maintaining peace on the border is a prerequisite to building better relation and actualising the full potential of the India-China relations, which
remain underleveraged largely due to a lingering trust deficit stemming from the unresolved boundary dispute. In October 2013, during the visit of India’s then prime minister Manmohan Singh to Beijing, the two countries signed a landmark Border Defence Cooperation
Agreement, and one can expect buttressing of this framework and additional confidence building measures to ensure friction-free frontiers. Taking a long-range view, the two leaders have an unrivalled opportunity to give a decisive push to boundary negotiations
which remain stuck in Phase II, the most crucial and difficult part of the labyrinthine negotiations which will form the basis for the actual delineation of the boundary.

India and China signed the agreement on border defence cooperation during the then Prime
Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh’s visit to China in October 2013.Building Trust: Hand-in-Hand

Looking ahead, pragmatism is the operative mantra in the evolving India-China relations, and looks set to stay that way. In the military sphere, the two Asian powers are now looking to build greater trust and intensify interaction between the top military brass.
India and China have held three rounds of counter-terror exercise entitled Hand-in-Hand. The defence ministers of the two countries have developed a mechanism of annual dialogue and Indian ships make goodwill visits to Chinese ports.

Refreshingly, India and China have fashioned pragmatic cooperation in the international arena by closely cooperating on a range of cross-cutting issues like climate change and multilateral trade negotiations. They are influential members of leading multilateral
bodies like the BRICS, the ASEAN Regional Forum, the East Asia Summit and G20 club of emerging economies.

A for Asian Century

Clearly, the simultaneous rise of India and China unfolding on the global stage hold the key to an emerging Asian century. With so much at stake in building a harmonious partnership, India and China are now banking on culture and creativity to act as connectors
between people of the two countries. Travel, tourism and people-to-people contacts are poised for an upswing in 2014, which both countries have designated as the Year of India-China Friendship. Buddhism provides civilizational connect and Bollywood bonding
is becoming stronger - a festival of Bollywood films was launched in China recently to much acclaim. The two countries are now looking to sign a pact on the joint production of films, which promises to build a new popular bridge between them and give Indian
filmmakers access to the second largest market in the world after the US.

Skill, Speed and Scale

There will always be sceptics, but a journey of thousand miles begin with a small step, as a Chinese proverb says. Looking ahead, the two Asian giants look set to forge a more constructive and multi-pronged partnership and have accepted a pragmatic model of
cooperation in which elements of competition and cooperation will co-exists, hopefully in a creative fusion. The new template of cooperative partnership will be underpinned by ABCD as well as the three S which Prime Minister Modi has spoken of. India needs
Skill, Speed and Scale to compete with China, Modi has famously said. This receptivity to learn from each other’s developmental experiences is reflected in a growing realisation in both New Delhi and Beijing that cooperation, rather than conflict, will bring
more benefits and spur the rise of both India and China and help shape a balanced Asian century. Rhetorical quibbles apart, the Indian and Chinese dreams of national development and resurgence are entwined at deeper levels. It’s time for the leaders of India
and China to walk the talk of an Asian century and make the dreams of their two and a half billion people real.

(Manish Chand is Editor-in-Chief of India Writes Network,www.indiawrites.org, a portal and e-journal focused on international affairs and the India Story)

- The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author.References

C for Cricket, C for Commerce, C for Coking Coal, and C for Community, the 450,000-strong Indian community which is thriving in Australia. Think of India-Australia relations, and these four Cs spring readily to mind. And yes, uranium, the yellow cake, which
may just end up being the show-stealer during the September 4-5 visit of Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott.

The India-Australia relations are on a strong wicket, and they are scoring high in every field. In a sign of close and warm relations, India has rolled out the red carpet for Prime Minister Abbott, who has become the first head of government to be hosted by
the Narendra Modi government in New Delhi on a standalone bilateral visit.

President Shri Pranab Mukherjee meeting with the then Prime Minister of
Australia Ms. Julia Gillard in New Delhi (October 17, 2012)Business Bonding

The focus is predictably on business with capital B. Trade and investment are on an upswing, and are set to climb higher during the ongoing visit of Prime Minister Abbott, who has brought with him around 130 top businessmen who together comprise a hefty portion
of Australia’s GDP. The two countries are determined to raise the bar and plan to more than double bilateral trade from A$ 16.50 bn to A$ 40 billion bilateral trade by 2015.

Indian investments in the resources sector in Australia, which has massive reserves of gold, copper and zinc, among other minerals, have climbed to $ 10 billion. The two sides are exploring prospects of collaboration in the resources sector, including in exploration,
supply of machinery and of technology. Leading Indian investors in Australia include, among others, Sterlite Industries (copper mines; Aditya Birla Group (copper mines), Asian Paints and Reliance (uranium exploration). The two sides are negotiating Comprehensive
Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) and have already held five rounds of talks. The pact, once concluded, is expected to have a force multiplier effect on trade relations. "The CEOs Forum can play a big role in bringing about business partnerships. We both
seek better market access for mutual benefit and to create an environment that is conducive to business and investment,” says Sanjay Bhattacharyya, joint secretary (South) in India’s Ministry of External Affairs.

Nuclear Deal

The highlight of the visit is expected to be the signing of a civil nuclear deal that will clear the decks for the import of uranium by India. The two sides have already held five rounds of productive negotiations, and there is a strong probability that a nuclear
safeguards agreement will be signed and sealed during the visit. Australia has the world’s highest reserves of recoverable uranium in the world. The nuclear deal will form a high point in the ongoing transformation of India-Australia relations.

Asia-Pacific geopolitics

The shifting plates of Asian geopolitics are bringing India and Australia, vibrant, secular multi-cultural democracies, together in a closer strategic embrace. Australia sees India as part of India’s extended neighbourhood. "It is under-appreciated that Perth
and Chennai are closer to each other than Sydney is to Seoul, to Shanghai, or to Tokyo,” said Australia’s then Foreign Minister Stephen Smith in a key note address in September 2008 at the University of Western Australia. "…As the world sees the potential
of an Asian/Pacific century unfolds, Australia sees India at the heart of this historic shift in political and economic influence,” he said.

Australia supports India’s candidature in an expanded UN Security Council. The Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean are firing their twinned dreams of an Asia-Pacific century or Indo-Pacific century. Members of key multilateral bodies, including the G20, CHOGM,
East Asia Summit, Asia Pacific Partnership on Climate and Clean Development, and Indian Ocean Rim Association, India and Australia have forged a truly global partnership. When Prime Minister Abbott comes to India, he will be inviting India’s Prime Minister
Narendra Modi to visit Brisbane for the G20 summit in November.

Education Partnership

Education is a great connector, with around 36,000 Indian students chasing their dreams in diverse colleges and polytechnics across Australia. A majority of them are studying in vocational training institutes. Skill training is an important pillar of the burgeoning
education partnership. India has set up a number of Chairs of Indian Studies in Australian Universities, and more are on the way. Australia has also ledged US$ 1 million towards a Chair on Environmental and Ecology Studies at the Nalanda University.

Educational links are reinforced by a robust science and technology partnership. The two sides have set up the Strategic Research Fund, which has proved to be useful for developing joint projects in areas of cutting edge technologies. In this context, India
has benefitted a great deal from the water partnership and sharing of experiences and expertise on water basin management.

Cricket Camaraderie

Moving beyond the realm of geopolitics and strategy, it’s people-to-people bonds that keeps India-Australia relations humming. Cricket madness fires Indians and Australians alike. Iconic cricketers Sachin Tendulkar and Donald Bradman remain enduring bridge-builders
between the two countries. Sachin Tendulkar was conferred an honorary member of the Order of Australia promoting India-Australia relations. This time round, there will be a spot of cricket diplomacy, too, with Prime Minister Abbott expected to meet three celebrity
cricketers, including Sachin Tendulkar, Adam Gilchrist and Brett Lee. There is a plan to bring Don Bradman memorabilia to India next year. "Cricket will be a very strong bond as we take this relationship forward,” says Bhattacharyya. Besides cricket, the Indian
community has been in the forefront of sustaining the momentum in India-Australia relations. The 450,000-strong Indian community is enriching their adopted homeland in their multiple roles as teachers, doctors, accountants, engineers and researchers.

Sachin Tendulkar in action in one of the matches against Australia .Prime
Minister Abbott is also expected to meet Sachin Tendulkar during his visit to India
In the great new game of an unfolding Asia-Pacific century, expect India and Australia to score high, and stretch the boundaries of their multi-faceted partnership. There are no googlies here, only the invigorating joys of a good gentleman’s game.

(Manish Chand is Editor-in-Chief of India Writes Network,www.indiawrites.org, a portal and e-journal focused on international affairs and the India Story)

]]>05/09/2014 10:25:49MEA Adminhttps://mea.gov.in/in-focus-article.htm?23973/India+amp+Australia+On+a+strong+wicket
MEA2397323962India and Japan: The Power of Two

By Manish Chand

Metro, Bullet Trains, Buddhism, Business, Technology and Innovation. It’s a potent brew, which is made all the more heady by the common strategic intent to co-create an Asian renaissance. It takes two to tango. And India and Japan, Asia’s two vibrant democracies
and leading economies, are matching their steps perfectly, and are set to take their bilateral ties to new heights during the August 30-September 3 visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Japan.

Delhi-Tokyo 3.0

The maiden voyage of Narendra Modi to Japan as the leader of the world’s largest democracy and Asia’s third largest economy, is set to usher in a 3.0 phase in India-Japan relations. The launch of Japan-India Global Partnership in the 21st Century in 2000, the
elevation of the ties to the level of Global and Strategic Partnership are some recent milestones in the variegated India-Japan relations. It’s time for a phase of enhancement and acceleration, and the leaders of India and Japan make a perfect pair to shepherd
the multi-faceted India-Japan ties to a higher stratosphere.

Why Modi’s visit matters

There are many important markers to the Modi visit to Japan: this is the first time an Indian prime minister will be spending five days in an Asian country, a gesture which signify special ties between the two countries. This is perhaps the first time there
are two-way visits by the leaders of India and Japan in the same year. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was India’s chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations in January this year, and now Mr Modi is heading to Japan.

Prime Minister of Japan, Mr. Shinzo Abe was the Chief Guest at the Republic
Day Celebrations at Rajpath (January 26, 2014)Meeting of Minds

It’s going to be a meeting of minds as the leaders of India and Japan enjoy an unrivalled personal rapport and have deep personal admiration for each other. Both PM Modi and PM Abe are strong believers in economic reforms and are seen widely as architects of
the ongoing national resurgence in their respective countries. Prime Minister Modi is one of three people Mr Abe follows on twitter. Ahead of his visit, PM Modi has shared his enthusiasm for his trip to Japan on twitter: "Japan's friendship with India is time
tested. We are 2 vibrant democracies committed to advancing peace and prosperity in the world @AbeShinzo." In a gesture laden with emotive resonance, the prime minister has also tweeted in Japanese, conveying his hope to take the India-Japan cooperation to
a new level.

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has shared his enthusiasm for his forthcoming
visit to Japan on twitter with a series of tweetsChemistry and Symmetry

Given this personal chemistry and symmetry of shared interests, all eyes will be on the leaders of India and Japan when they hold talks in Tokyo. What can one expect from the summit meeting? First, the talks will set the tone for enhanced engagement between
Asia’s second and third largest economies in virtually all areas, for the next few years. Mr Modi’s visit will underline the special place Japan has in India’s diplomatic-strategic matrix and affirm the pivotal role Japan will play in India’s national resurgence.

Technology and Innovation

Secondly, the visit will underscore the starring role Japan will play in transforming infrastructure and the economic landscape of India, the largest recipient of Japanese FDA. Japan has already ploughed in massive investment in the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial
Corridor and the Western Freight Corridor – signature infrastructure projects that are poised to become enduring monuments of India-Japan partnership. The forthcoming talks are expected to give a fresh momentum to another Japan-aided Chennai-Bengaluru corridor.
Japanese technology and expertise will also come in handy to actualise the new Indian government’s stated mission to build 100 smart cities.

Thirdly, with Prime Minister Modi stressing on the role of technology in revamping India’s governance and economy, the talks will focus on the transfer of cutting-edge technologies. Technology and innovation are, after all, key pillars of India-Japan relations.
Japanese technology and engineers have helped build the Delhi Metro, and which has changed the way millions of people in India’s capital travel. Now, the efforts are on to replicate this success story with the Mumbai Metro. India’s pursuit of high-speed train
network – Japan’s forte with its famous bullet train Shinkansen – is set to get a big push. The bullet train pact, once it’s signed and sealed, will be also symbolic of the high-speed lane India-Japan ties have moved into.

The Delhi Metro was built with the help of Japanese technology and engineersCivil
Nuclear Deal

The negotiations for a civil nuclear deal began in 2010. The indications are that the conversations are proceeding well. However, given the technical complexity of any such arrangement none can set a timeline for an outcome. The nuclear deal, once concluded,
will be a game-changer in transforming India-Japan relations.

Trade: Raising the bar

Economically, the India-Japan ties have been steadily climbing an upward trajectory, after the signing of Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement in 2011. Over 1000 Japanese companies have set up their base in India, making Japan the 4th largest investor
in India. This includes iconic brands like Sony, Toyota, Hitachi and Mitsubishi. In the last 12 years, Japanese companies have pumped in investment of $12.66 billion in India, accounting for 7% of total FDI inflow into India. With so much going between India
and Japan, it’s surprising that bilateral trade is hovering around just $18 billion, but Japan-watchers say the time has come to push the envelope. The two sides are confident of doubling this figure in the near term, with some experts saying bilateral trade
could surge to $100 billion by 2020.

Convergent Interests

Reinforcing this vibrant economic relationship is a striking convergence of interests in the strategic sphere. Amid the flux in East Asia, defence relations have acquired a new ballast, with the two countries launching what is called 2 + 2 defence dialogue
involving senior officials of defence and foreign ministries. Maritime security is a key focus area, with the two countries stepping up joint exercises, and Japan looking at India as a net security provider in the region. With Japan taking a historic decision
to ease its defence export laws, India, a close partner, looks set to be a major gainer. Tokyo is likely to clear the sale of a high-tech amphibious aircraft to New Delhi soon.

Cultural alchemy

In this emerging alchemy of diplomatic engagement, cultural affinity has added a special flavour. Sage-poet Rabindranath Tagore, seer Swami Vivekananda and Judge Radhabinod Pal, the sole dissenting judge who gave a not-guilty verdict at the War Crimes Tribunal,
have kept India alive in Japanese imagination, says Aftab Seth, a former ambassador of India to Japan. Buddhism provides the enduring spiritual glue to India-Japan bonds, with thousands of Japanese tourists flocking to Buddhist pilgrimage sites in Bihar. Indian
films provide a powerful cultural connect. Rajnikanth is a rage in Japan, and is fondly called ‘Odori Maharaja’. Japanese food is finding new devotees in India, with sushi and tempura restaurants springing up in major cities of India. And so are Indian cuisine
and dance forms in Japan.

Asian Century

Whichever area one looks at, be it economic strategic or cultural, India’s Japan Moment and Japan’s India Moment are cohering. And this burgeoning relationship between India and Japan, aspirants for a permanent seat in a reformed UN Security Council, is good
news for a rising Asia and the collective efforts to fructify the dream of a harmonious Asian century.

(Manish Chand is Editor-in-Chief of India Writes Network,www.indiawrites.org, a portal and e-journal focused on international affairs and the India Story)

Look East. Look West. The multifarious relations between India and Vietnam are deepening by the day and are branching out in new directions. In many ways, it’s a perfect match between India’s Look East policy and Vietnam’s Look West policy as the two countries
aim high to forge closer strategic, economic and energy ties in days to come. This confluence of interlinked interests will be reflected in the visit of India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to Vietnam August 25-26. This will be amongst her early
standalone bilateral visits to a Southeast Asian country after a flurry of bilateral and multilateral meetings connected with ASEAN, ASEAN Regional Forum and East Asia Summit in Myanmar early August.

(In Pic: Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru with President Ho Chi Minh in Hanoi
on October 29, 1954. Photo courtesy: The Hindu Photo Library) The relations between India and Vietnam have been exceptionally friendly, and virtually free of any dissonance or friction. The ties go back to the ancient Cham civilization when people
from Orissa travelled to Vietnam and found a hospitable home there, mingling cultures, customs, language and beliefs. Built on robust foundations laid down by India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Vietnam’s iconic leader Ho Chi Minh, the ties have
grown exponentially over the years. Pandit Nehru travelled to Vietnam in 1954 to celebrate Vietnam’s victory in the famous Dien Bien Phu battle against the French forces. This was followed by Ho Chi Minh’s visit to India in 1958. President Rajendra Prasad
visited Vietnam in 1959. The sense of the shared anti-colonial impulse and solidarity that shaped bilateral ties in post-independence years has now morphed into a multi-pronged strategic partnership, with the focus on development cooperation, sharing experiences
in nation-building, expanding trade and investment and enhancing defence ties. High-profile visits have become increasingly frequent, with almost all top-ranking leaders of Vietnam visiting India and Indian leaders and ministers travelling to the Southeast
Asian country over the years.

Energy and Synergy

Economically, one can see a new energy and synergy between Asia’s third largest economy and Southeast Asia’s emerging economy. Bilateral trade is estimated to be at $8 billion. The two sides are now looking to scale up bilateral trade to $15 billion by 2020.
Vietnam is an attractive destination for hordes of Indian companies. India has already 68 operational projects in Vietnam worth around $1 billion. Indian investments encompass diverse sectors, including oil and gas exploration, mineral exploration and processing,
sugar manufacturing, agro-chemicals, IT, and agricultural processing. Vietnamese companies, too, are stepping up their footprints in India. Vietnam has three investment projects in India with total investment of US$ 23.6 million. The top Indian investors in
Vietnam include, among others, OVL, Essar Exploration and Production Ltd, Nagarjuna Ltd, KCP Industries Limited, Ngon Coffee Manufacturing, Venkateswara Hatcheries, Philips Carbon and McLeod Russell and CGL.

(Picture of Long Phu-II Thermal Power Plant model) The single
biggest investment by an Indian company in Vietnam is Tata Power’s mammoth project to build 1.8 billion Long Phu-II Thermal Power Plant in Soc Trang.

(In pic: General Secretary of the Communist party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong
with the President during his visit to India in November 2013) Energy cooperation is another promising area which is bringing the two nations closer. During the visit of General Secretary of the Communist party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong to
India in November 2013, Vietnam agreed in principle to grant Indian companies seven oil exploration blocks. The two sides are expected to sign a pact to formalize this cooperation soon. Off and on, China has protested against Indian involvement in oil and
gas exploration in Vietnam on grounds that these blocks like in the disputed portions of South China Sea, which is claimed in entirety by Beijing. Vietnam has vociferously rejected China’s contention and asserted that they are in international waters.

Strategic Canvas

Against the backdrop of the flux in the region, the strategic and defence ties between India and Vietnam have acquired a new force and dimension. Advocating a rule-based order and freedom of navigation, India has pressed for the resolution of the South China
Sea dispute in accordance with the UN Laws of the Sea. This position was reiterated by India’s external affairs minister at India-ASEAN and ARF meetings in Myanmar. With maritime security on mind, India has provided Vietnam a $100 million credit line to purchase
military equipment, part of its drive to help bolster Vietnam’s military infrastructure and its preparedness to deal with any external threat. The two sides are now looking to intensify strategic defence dialogues and joint naval exercises to expand the scope
for maritime security cooperation. Besides, India and Vietnam see their growing relations as part of the larger drive for regional peace and stability. This is reflected in their close cooperation in a host of regional fora, including ASEAN, East Asia Summit,
Mekong Ganga Cooperation, Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM). "India and Vietnam want peace, prosperity, stability and development to the region. India has in Vietnam as loyal and all-weather friend,” says Vietnam’s ambassador to India Nguyen Thanh Tan.

Knowledge Partnership

What imparts solidity to the India-Vietnam relations is a burgeoning development partnership, underpinned by IT, education and collaboration in frontier areas of science and technology. To spur the economic resurgence of Vietnam, India has provided lines of
credit of around $165 million for a host of infrastructure projects. With its proven strengths in knowledge industries, India has played a pivotal role in setting up a host of capacity building institutions, including the setting up of IT training centres,
English language training centres and entrepreneurship development institutes. India’s assistance in setting up Rice Research Institute in Vietnam enabled that country to become the world’s leading rice-exporter and helped usher in a green revolution in the
Southeast Asian country, says Aftab Seth, a former ambassador of India to Vietnam. With most of Vietnam’s population young and restless to carve their destiny on their own terms, India has offered scholarships to hundreds
of Vietnamese students annually under Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) programme. In recent times, IT has emerged as an important fulcrum of knowledge-based partnership between the two countries. India has agreed to help set up the Indira Gandhi
High-tech Cyber Forensic Laboratory in Hanoi and a Vietnam-India English and IT Training Centre at the National Defence Academy of Vietnam. Top IT bellwethers, including NIIT, APTECH and Tata Infotech, have opened more than 80 franchised centers spread all
across Vietnam. In November last year, India gifted a high-power supercomputer to Vietnam.

Cultural Connect

(In pic: Mỹ Sơn, Vietnam) With the first direct flight between
Delhi and Ho Chi Minh City set to take off in November, people-to-people contacts, travel and tourism are poised for an upswing. Vietnam is home to around 1500 Indians. India is set to open a Cultural Centre in Hanoi later this year. The old linkages of the
Cham civilization between India and Vietnam will acquire a new resonance, with the Archaeological Survey of India embarking on a conservation and restoration project to refurbish centuries-old Hindu temples at the UNESCO heritage site of My Son in Vietnam.

New Horizons: The Way Ahead

Blending IT, education, Buddhism and strategy in its intricate tapestry, the relations between India and Vietnam have effortlessly blended the ancient and the modern to forge a robust contemporary partnership. In the days to come, the only way for the Delhi-Hanoi
relationship is to go up, opening new vistas and opportunities for a mutually invigorating and empowering partnership.

(Manish Chand is Editor-in-Chief of India Writes Network,www.indiawrites.org,, a portal and e-journal focused on international affairs and the India Story)

]]>24/08/2014 15:54:49MEA Adminhttps://mea.gov.in/in-focus-article.htm?23947/India+amp+Vietnam+Old+Friends+New+Vistas
MEA2394723940India-League of Arab States Inaugural Media Symposium (21 August 2014)The first India-League of Arab States Media Symposium, bringing together senior officials, journalists and editors from both sides, will be held in New Delhi on 21 August 2014. The External Affairs Minister will inaugurate the Symposium on 21 August 2014
at at 10:00 hrs at Jawaharlal Nehru Bhawan, Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi.

This Symposium seeks to enhance India-Arab League understanding and friendship in the field of media, promote bilateral cooperation and exchange at all levels and in various forms. Both sides will also discuss the ways to use various means of media to promote
cooperation between their respective media establishments, enhance interactions, offer assistance and facilities for the journalists. The forum will also hold deliberations on the use of media for promoting the economic and commercial relations between the
Arab countries and India.

This Symposium stems from the new Memorandum of Co-operation (MoC) signed between India and the Arab League in December 2013. As part of enhancing our engagement with the 21 member League of Arab States (LAS), India and LAS, late last year, signed a MoC with
an attached Executive Programme (EP) on the Arab-India Cooperation Forum scheduled for 2014-15. Recognizing the value of the media’s role in India and the Arab world, and with an objective of promoting deeper and more meaningful interaction between our media
organisations and journalists, this EP included specific proposals, including the media symposium, for strengthening cooperation in the media sector.

The media symposium will see participation from journalists and senior media personalities from 16 Arab League States, 4 officials from the Arab League Secretariat, Cairo as well as 18 prominent Indian media personalities including CEO, Prasar Bharati. The
discussions spread over three sessions, will cover the following three themes- ‘Utilization of Media for Arab and Indian public and enhancement of media friendship, promotion of free exchange of information and review of Arab and Indian media experiments and
finally, scope for media cooperation between India and the Arab countries’.

The Latin American region is fast emerging as one of the major growth engines of the world. Like India, Latin America has remained largely resilient to global economic turmoil and has stayed on the path of growth matching India's attractiveness for investment,
which is currently among the top three globally.Today 20 countries of the region have their embassies & consulates in India.

In 1997, taking into consideration the potential for increased trade with Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), India’s Department of Commerce launched an integrated programme called ‘Focus: LAC’, which has since been extended till end of this year. It aims
to encourage the Indian private sector, as well as state entities, to develop stronger trade and investment linkages with Latin America and the Caribbean, and at the same time focus on enhancing India’s export of textiles, engineering products, computer software,
chemicals and pharmaceuticals to the region.

In 2014, India is looking at increasing the share of hi-tech and high value-added defence exports to Latin American countries as part of a rejig in its strategy on local defence production. The Commerce Ministry has already indicated its intent of moving Indian
exports away from shipments of traditional items without much value-addition. In this regard, an incentive scheme is being considered to boost exports of hi-tech and high value-added defence exports in the forthcoming Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) for 2014-19.

Over the years, India's ties with Latin America have expanded beyond trade and investment to cooperation in areas such as energy, knowledge sharing as well as in multilateral fora such as G-20, BRICS and IBSA (India, Brazil, South Africa). India enjoys a Preferential
Trade Agreement with Mercosur and has been recently granted 'Observer' status in the emerging grouping -- New Pacific Alliance. These arrangements throw up huge opportunities for the business communities in India and the LAC region, which need to be converted
into comprehensive treaties covering trade, services and investments.

(CII India-Latin America and Caribbean Conclave held in New Delhi on December 9-10, 2013)Formidable
challenges

Business relations between India and LAC are mainly by way of investments, as conventional trade in goods has challenges on account of distance, time zone difference and business culture. While trade in commodities continue due to their bulk nature and involvement
of mega institutions, manufacturing and services can grow essentially through investments, which will automatically lead to further trade growth.

There is, therefore, a need for a roadmap and agenda for our engagement with Latin America, especially initiatives aimed at meeting the development, energy and food security needs of our region, new infrastructural linkages with enhanced connectivity and trade
and investment facilitation that builds on the complementarities in our economic strengths.

Business relations between India and LAC countries face some formidable challenges. The primary reason for low trade and investment is cited as long distances and complicated sea routes, resulting in high transportation and allied costs, such as insurance.
There are no direct sea trade routes and shipments have to pass through different ports. Lack of information on how to do business in LAC and India adds to business risks and deters businesses from exploring opportunities.

Challenges to greater economic ties also include a poor understanding of each other, including a major deficit in Spanish and Portuguese language skills in India and lack of proficiency in English in parts of LAC countries.

(The Vice President, Shri Mohammad Hamid Ansari launching the INCHAM, at Lima in Peru)Trade
with the region

Even as India's trade with the LAC region has grown at 25 per cent annually over the last decade, touching $ 46 billion in 2012-13, bilateral investments remain at a relatively low level. While the region received only 4 per cent of India's outward FDI, investments
from LAC region in India are still low. Now is the time to change that. India, the world's third largest economy with a $5.5 trillion GDP on purchasing power parity basis, doing business with the $12 trillion LAC economy can make an economic impact, globally.
For this, India and LAC countries must rethink their strategy for economic engagement.

Experts say bilateral trade could easily go up to $100 billion if the leaders of both sides blend proactive diplomacy with addressing issues like enhancing connectivity and leveraging opportunities in areas, such as energy, agriculture, food processing, textiles,
transport and IT.

R. Vishwanathan, a former Indian Ambassador to the region, suggests that India should sign free trade agreements (FTAs) with Mexico, Colombia and Peru —- the second, third and fourth largest destinations of India’s exports in Latin America. "India must also
deepen and widen the preferential trade agreements (PTAs) with Chile and Mercosur countries, including Brazil—the largest destination of India’s exports in the region,” he suggests.

Food & Energy Security

The Indian Government’s focus on food security is another factor behind its deepening engagement with the Latin America region, which has vast swathes of fertile land. Infact, there is immense scope for collaboration between businesses of the India and the
LAC region in beefing up India's food security and in areas relating to development of agriculture and agricultural processing.

A FICCI-Deloitte Paper on `India and Latin America & Caribbean(LAC):Business Environment and Opportunities for Collaboration", indicates that with climate changes wreaking havoc in the agriculture output, India and LAC could synergise and complement each other
to meet the growing food crisis.

Latin America has also emerged as an important source of hydrocarbons for India in the past few years, with the region accounting for around 19 per cent of India’s energy imports. India is also set to step up collaboration with Brazil in the area of eco-friendly
ethanol. Venezuela, Colombia, Mexico and Cuba are some of important suppliers of oil to India in the region.

Geographically, India’s major trade partners are Brazil, Venezuela, Mexico, Chile, Argentina and Colombia, with Peru, Ecuador and Panama also significant contributors. These account for more than 80 per cent of the India-LAC trade. Of Caricom countries, Trinidad
and Tobago is among the top ten, primarily because of petroleum exports to India.

The Bahamas, curiously, appeared to be the fourth-ranked destination for India’s exports in 2011-2012, but it is generally suspected that this is more reflective of financial transactions passing through that country’s offshore banking system rather than genuine
trade.

India’s investments in LAC have been concentrated in natural resource sectors, pharmaceuticals and IT/ITeS. More recently, India has made substantial investments in equity oil. The Indian pharma industry has emerged as a leader in the supply of generic drugs
to the world, and LAC is no exception. The sector represents about 15 per cent of India’s exports to the LAC region, making it the second-largest export sector of the region, second only to refined petroleum products. Several Indian pharmaceutical companies
are investors and employers in LAC. Ranbaxy, then a fully Indian firm, made a pioneering entry into Brazilin 2000, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories acquired a plant in Mexico, and Glenmark has invested in Argentina and Brazil. Zydus-Cadila acquired two Brazilian pharma
companies and is now a significant player in the market. The largest recipient of Indian investment in pharmaceuticals has been Brazil, followed by Argentina, Mexico, Peru and Colombia.

India’s global leadership in the IT/ITeS sector is well known. Led by Tata Consultancy Services, which entered the LAC region in 2001 as a part of its nearshoring strategy, the roster of Indian companies with direct presence in LAC includes Wipro, Infosys,
Mahindra Satyam, Genpact and Evalueserve. There are now 25 Indian IT/ITeS firms in LAC employing over 20,000 Latin American.

Defence & Military Ties

(HAL ‘Dhruv’ Helicopter) After a clutch of automobile and energy sector
investments in the region, state-owned aerospace major Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is now looking to make inroads into the lucrative market with its indigenously developed helicopter, `Dhruv'. HAL is in contact with other potential customers in the
region and business prospects are being pursued in countries such as Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Brazil etc. Several countries in the region have also approached Indian companies, especially MSMEs, in the defence and aerospace sectors to set up manufacturing
bases in their countries and are offering tax incentives.

Indian defence firm, MKU Private Limited, manufacturer of ballistic protection equipment for personnel and platforms, has been working with countries such as Brazil, Peru, Chile, Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, and Paraguay. In fact, since the past seven years,
the company has been the sole supplier of body armour to Brazil. It also has the contract to armour M-17 helicopters for the Mexican Navy and Police. Recently, it bagged a deal from Ecuador to supply 40,000 body armours to enhance protection for its police
force. MKU had won a global tender in Ecuador for the contract and its body armour was chosen by the Ecuadorean Interior Ministry through extensive tests and field trials before being selected.

Ecuador is also keen on setting up an arms manufacturing factory in India. It may be recalled that Ecuador was among the first countries to import India's indigenously developed seven ''Dhruv'' Advance Light Helicopters (ALH).

Samtel Avionics Ltd has signed an MoU with Avionics Services, Brazil for supplying MFDs for multiple helicopter programmes as well as fixed wing aircraft. The company has also won a trainer programme in South America, and is in talks for transfer of technology
on displays.

Conclusion

Trade and investment form the bulwark of the current India-LAC relationship, as both sides are highly complementary in the energy & natural resources, pharmaceuticals, and business services sectors. Diversification of trade partners and access to new markets
is also a priority for both sides, especially as Western demand stagnates under the shadow of the global recession.

(Ms Huma Siddiqui is a Senior Correspondent for one of the leading financial dailies, The Financial Express in New Delhi. She specialises in coverage on Latin America & Strategic and Military Issues.)

Indian cuisine reflects a 5000-year history of intermingling of various communities and cultures, leading to diverse flavours and regional cuisines. The arrival of the Mughals, the British, and Portuguese further added variety to Indian cuisine.

The consequent fusion in cuisines resulted in what is today known as ‘Indian Cuisine’. Indian cuisine also means a wide variety of cooking styles. Sometimes it seems referring to it as Indian cuisine is a misnomer, since regional dishes vary tremendously from
region to region.

Indian cuisine has also shaped the history of international relations; the spice trade between India and Europe is often cited by historians as the primary catalyst for Europe's Age of Discovery. Spices were bought from India and traded around Europe and Asia.
It has also influenced other cuisines across the world, especially those from Southeast Asia, the British Isles and the Caribbean.

As food influences travelled to India, so has Indian cuisine travelled abroad. Particular dishes have gained popularity or subtle influences through spices have seeped into cuisines the worldover.

History of Food

There is no concrete record of the food habits of the Indus civilization. With the coming of the Aryans around 1500 BC, literary sources reveal distinct dietary behaviour. The food was simple as the early Aryans were semi-agriculturist, semi-nomadic people.
As they began around 1000 BC to settle down in the fertile Gangetic plains their food became more complex and elaborate.

Barley and wheat seem to have been the chief produce of the field, and consequently the principal articles of food. Various kinds of cakes were prepared from these grains and used as food and offered to the gods. Frequent allusions to animal sacrifices and
to the cooking of meat, roasted and boiled, meant that the early Aryans were non vegetarians.

As the agrarian economy grew, cattle and other domesticated animals became more useful in agrarian and related food production activities; it became increasingly expensive to slaughter animals for meat. This was the beginning of vegetarianism in India. With
the rise of Buddhism and Jainism in the 6th century BC, the doctrines of non-violence took religious connotations and meat eating became taboo in the Aryan culture.

Till early medieval times, vegetarianism was the mainstream food habit of the Aryan people; they ate grains, fruits and vegetable and milk products. A warm climate and cultivation of a large number of herbs and spices, the preparations became more complex.
This remained for two thousand years as the main food habit with large sections of traditionally vegetarian Indian families – particularly in North India.

During this period, Indian cuisine gained immensely from interaction with foreigners who came to the subcontinent as migrants, traders and invaders -- making it a unique blend of various cuisines.

India’s first taste of foreign flavours came with the Greek, Roman and Arab traders who used many of the important herbs and spices, and most importantly, saffron.

Another important influence from a different culinary world was from Arabs traders who introduced coffee. The Arabs also left an indelible mark on Kerala’s cuisine now known as Kerala Muslim (or Moplah) cuisine. Syrian Arab Christians fleeing persecution at
the hands of the Muslims took refuge under the King of Kerala and also left a heavy influence on the cuisine of Kerala.

Persian Zoroastrians arrived next and gave to India what is known as Parsi cuisine. Some believe that it was the Zoroastrians who first brought biryani to India, before the Mughals made it popular.

The Mughals revolutionized Indian food with their penchant for elegant dining and rich food with dry fruits and nuts, a style which eventually came to be known as Mughlai cuisine.

Tomato, chilli, and potato, which are staple components of today's Indian cuisine, were brought to India by the Portuguese. The Portuguese also introduced refined sugar, before which only fruits and honey were used as sweeteners.

Hindu refugees from Afghanistan brought with them a style of an oven, which led to an entirely new stream of dishes – tandoori.

The British infused in Indians their taste for tea. With an ideal tea growing climate, India rapidly joined the ranks of tea lovers of the world. The British not only influenced what Indians ate, they also changed "how" Indians ate. For the first time Indians
used knives and forks. The dining table replaced the kitchen floor.

Flavours of India

Herbs and spices, or masalas, play a vital role in Indian food. Masala means a 'blend of several spices’ which varies from dish to dish. Garam masala is the most important blend and an absolute essential for an Indian preparation. Each state in India has its
own particular blend of garam masala.

The role of spices and herbs, in fact, goes beyond just cooking. Ancient Ayurvedic texts prescribe them for curative and therapeutic functions. Though knowledge of the medicinal properties of herbs and spices have been lost to most of today’s generation, with
flavor and palette becoming dominant but the fact remains that locked in traditional wisdom are age-old secrets of the benefits of herbs and spices.

The story of Indian spices is more than 7000 years old. Centuries before Greece and Rome had been discovered, sailing ships were carrying Indian spices, perfumes and textiles to Mesopotamia, Arabia and Egypt. It was the lure of these that brought many seafarers
to the shores of India.

Long before the Christian era, Greek merchants thronged the markets of South India, buying many expensive items amongst which spices were included. It is believed that the Parthian wars were being fought by Rome largely to keep open the trade route to India.
It is also said that Indian spices and her famed products were the main lure for crusades and expeditions to the East.

It was in AD1492, that Christopher Columbus discovered the New World. Five years later, under the guidance of Captain Vasco Da Gama a new route to the spice lands of Asia was being searched. While Columbus failed to achieve this goal, Da Gama succeeded. The
ships brought back a cargo of spices and other products worth 60 times the cost of the said voyage. Da Gama`s successful voyage intensified an international power struggle for control over the spice trade. For three centuries the nations of Western Europe
-- Portugal, Spain, France, Holland, and Great Britain -- fought bloody sea-wars over the spice-producing colonies.

By the year AD1000, Arabians had conquered the Indus valley. They brought cumin and coriander that was mixed with Indian pepper, ginger and turmeric, that centuries later British sailors spread throughout the world as curry powder. In India, Arabian traders
got rare and exotic spices of the Far East from local spice merchants. India had spent the previous two millennia spreading its culture to the Spice Islands of the east.

Culinary styles

Cuisine differs across India's diverse regions as a result of variations in local culture, geographical locations and economics. It also varies seasonally.

North India

This cuisine is perhaps the most popular and widely served in restaurants around the world. It is broadly characterized by meats and vegetables cooked in the tandoor (coal fired barbecue), use of cream in dals and yogurt in marinades.

Wheat is produced in the north and therefore a range of breads - naan, tandoori roti, chapatis or paranthas are traditionally eaten with foods of this region.

The best known North Indian food is Mughlai cuisine. Mughlai cuisine is a style of cooking developed by the imperial kitchens of the Mughal Empire and broadly non-vegetarian in content. This cuisine is characterized by the use of yogurt, fried onions, nuts
and saffron. There are tender kebabs, creamy kormas, rich pasandas.

The most notable ingredient in Kashmiri cuisine is mutton, of which there are over 30 varieties. Traditional Kashmiri cooking is, almost like an art called Wazwan reflecting strong Central Asian influences. The Wazwan experience means primarily non vegetarian
dishes, each aromatic with herbs and the fresh produce of the region. The unique feature of Kashmiri cuisine is that spices used are boiled rather than fried, which gives them a unique and distinctive flavour and aroma.

Punjabi cuisine is not different from other cuisines in the sense that most of the cuisine is inspired by the Central Asian and Mughlai cuisines since it was the entry spot for Muslim invaders. Punjab has also bequeathed the institution of dhaba, a wayside
eating joint, especially on highways. Mah ki Dal, Sarson Da Saag and Makki Di Roti, meat curry like Roghan Josh and stuffed paranthas are some of the popular dishes of this cuisine.

Awadhi cuisine bears similarities to those of Persia, Kashmir, Punjab and Hyderabad. The bawarchis and rakabdars of Awadh gave birth to the dum style of cooking. Dum, i.e., the art of sealing ingredients in a large handi and cooking over a slow fire, which
relates very well with the relaxed outlook and attitude of the people of the region. The richness of Awadh cuisine lies not only in the variety of cuisine but also in the ingredients used like mutton, paneer, and rich spices including cardamom and saffron.

South India

In South India, food is characterized by dishes cooked on the griddle such as dosas, thin broth like dals called sambar and an array of seafood. The region is also known for its heavy use of 'kari' leaves, tamarind and coconut.

Andhra Pradesh is known for its Hyderabadi cuisine which is greatly inspired by the Mughlai cuisine. The wealthy and leisured aristocracy of the erstwhile Nizam State as well as the long peaceful years of their dominance contributed largely to the development
of this cuisine. Some of the most traditional Hyderabadi dishes are biryani, chicken korma and sheer khurma.

Varieties in the cuisine of Karnataka has similarities with its three neighbouring South Indian states, as well as the states of Maharashtra and Goa to its North. Karnataka has two main styles of cooking, the Brahmin cuisine that is strictly vegetarian and
the cuisine of Coorg which is noted for its pork dishes.

The Chettinad cuisine of Tamil Nadu has transcended the boundaries of the state to carve a worldwide following. Generally the dishes are hot and pungent with fresh ground masalas and a typical menu resembles the aristocratic way of the Chettinad people.

The rich intermingling of cultures in Kerala has contributed to a vast melting pot of mouth-watering delicacies that are churned out. Appam and stew, ulli theeyal and of course the ubiquitous banana chips is something most are familiar with, however, in the
northern region of Kerala or the Malabar coast Muslim Moplah cuisine rules the roost. Arab influence is predominant in many of its dishes like the Alisa, which is a hearty wheat and meat porridge. South of Central Kerala is where the art of Syrian Christian
cooking remains the pride of many a homemaker. Their contribution to the Kerala cuisine has been manifold and the most noted are the hoppers, duck roast, meen vevichathu (red fish curry) and the isthew (stew).

East India

Bengali cuisine is the only traditionally developed multi-course tradition from the Indian subcontinent that is analogous in structure to the modern service à la russe style of French cuisine, with food served course-wise rather than all at once. Bengali cuisine
has a high emphasis on chilli pepper along with mustard oil and tends to use high amounts of spices. The cuisine is known for subtle flavours with emphasis on fish, vegetables, lentils, and rice. Fresh sweet water fish is one of its most distinctive features;
Bengalis prepare fish in many ways, such as steaming, braising, or stewing vegetables and sauces based on coconut milk or mustard.

The flavours of Oriya cuisine are usually subtle and delicately spiced and fish and other seafood such as crab and shrimp are very popular.

The food of India's eastern states such as Sikkim, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Assam, Nagaland, Manipur varies quite dramatically due to their geographical location. These areas are heavily influenced by Tibetan, Chinese, and even Western Cuisine.

West India

Rajasthani cuisine is quite diverse. On one side of the spectrum, the love for shikaar (a good hunt) among the erstwhile royalty creates a culinary art form that is unimaginable. And on the other side of the spectrum, is the equally grand all vegetarian food
of Marwar or Jodhpur with popular dishes such as choorma laddoo and daal baati.

Gujarat has a large populace that has been mainly vegetarian for religious reasons and therefore Gujarati cuisine is strictly vegetarian. The popular dishes in this cuisine are oondhia, patra, khaandavi and thhepla. Gujarati food tends to be sweet.

Parsi food is the hallmark of India's Zoroastrian community - ancient Persians. The Parsis’ main dish is Dhansakh (caramelized onions and brown rice served with a mix of dals, vegetables and meat) which is eaten on Sundays and at all weddings and functions.
Goan cuisine has a strong Portuguese influence since it was previously a Portuguese colony. The gravys are chilly-hot, spices are ground with vinegar and coconut. Some examples of this cuisine are Balcao, Xacuti, Vindaloos, Sorpotel and Moehlos.

Malvani/Konkani cuisine is the standard cuisine of the Hindus in the Konkan region of Maharashtra, Goa and northern parts of West Karnataka. Although Malvani cuisine is predominantly non-vegetarian, there are many vegetarian delicacies. Malvani cuisine uses
coconut liberally and is usually very spicy; however, the ‘Konkanastha Brahmin’ style of food of the region is quite bland and also vegetarian.

Celebrating with Food

Due to the diversity of geographical features and religions, festivals, small or big, are celebrated all year long in India. These festivals offer a great opportunity for people to enjoy traditional delicacies that are associated with each festival. Special
dishes are prepared and offered to the respective deities. For example, milk pudding, butter, and curd preparations signify cowherd Krishna's birthday, Janmashtami, while Modakas of fresh coconut, regional varieties of murukku, laddu and kajjaya are thought
to be favourites of Ganesh and are offered on Ganesh Chaturthi.

There are so many varieties of mithais as one moves from North to South or East to West and within different ethnic groups that one gets overwhelmed. While rasgulla, cham cham, sandesh and laddoo, gulab jamun, kaju katli are popular in West Bengal and North
India respectively, messu, monthar and ghevar are the order of the day in Gujarat and Rajasthan.

Indian Food the Worldover

Indian migration has spread the culinary traditions of the subcontinent throughout the world. These cuisines have been adapted to local tastes, and have also affected local cuisines. For example, curry's international appeal. Indian tandoor dishes such as chicken
tikka enjoy widespread popularity.

Indian cuisine in the Middle East has been influenced greatly by the large Indian diaspora. Centuries of trade relations and cultural exchanges have resulted in significant influence on each region's cuisines, the most notable being the Biryani.. It was introduced
by Persian invaders into Northern India and has since become an integral part of the Mughlai cuisine.

Indian cuisine is very popular in Southeast Asia, due to the strong Hindu and Buddhist cultural influence in the region. Indian cuisine has also had considerable influence on Malaysian cooking styles and also enjoys popularity in Singapore.. Singapore is also
known for fusion cuisine combining traditional Singaporean cuisine with Indian cuisines. The spread of vegetarianism in other parts of Asia is often credited to Hindu and Buddhist practices that originated in India.

Chicken tikka masala has been called "a true British national dish." In 2003, there were as many as 10,000 restaurants serving Indian cuisine in England and Wales alone. According to Britain's Food Standards Agency, the Indian food industry in the United Kingdom
is worth 3.2 billion pounds.

(Vikas Khanna is an award winning, Michelin Starred Indian chef, restaurateur,
food writer, filmmaker, humanitarian and the host of the TV Show MasterChef India. He is based in New York City.)
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MEA2393823934Growing the game: Golf finds glory in IndiaShaili Chopra

Golf’s centuries in history can never be complete without the mention of India. Royal Calcutta established in 1829 is the second oldest course in the world after St Andrews in Scotland and so India became the bastion of game for the East. The gateway to golf
in Asia.

(Royal Calcutta Golf Club)Today golf is rewriting that history. Indian
players are putting themselves and the sport on the global dais. India is set to be among countries that promise to resurrect the game as it suffers a decline in Europe and United States. The young are taking to it and the demographics in India can indeed
contribute to producing a few world-class players. For every sport, that’s really what’s needed – a few icons. A few success stories.Some inspiration to spark the fire. And luckily the news on that front is good.

[India’s ace golf players Anirban Lahiri (left) and Gaganjeet Bhullar(Right)]India’s
pool of golfers is growing and making an international mark. Anirban Lahiri surged in his world rankings this year taking the Indian flag to the PGA Championship, The British Open while fellow countryman Shiv Kapur finished in the top 25 at the US Open – all
signals of solid sportsmanship and great talent.

For those of us who have been crying hoarse about finding our own Tiger Woods, our own icons to help push the game, will only be too pleased to see the performances of young players like Lahiri, Gaganjeet Bhullar, Chikkarangappa and Rashid Khan. The latter
two, were fostered by a foundation that gave them golf clubs because they didn't have access or the funds to play the game. This is the real story of Indian golf. It's not elite. It's not pretentious. It's about below-30 fire-in-their-belly golfers. These
will be our icons. Bhullar, a recipient of the Arjuna Award got global accolades and he could thank the Indian Railways for it. Bhullar was born in Kapurthala in Punjab which is famous for the Rail Coach Factory (RCF). He grew up playing on the golf course
within the premises as his parents, also sports people were deputed to RCF. He was India's number one amateur in 2004 and 2006 and was part of the Indian team that won the silver medal at the 2006 Asian Games. Today he rubs shoulders with Rory McIlroy and
other global golfers.

(Women's Golf Association of India)The ladies are not far behind. The
Ladies Amateurs started in 1906 at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club but has come a long and difficult way since. It’s great to report that women’s game has been nurtured and all the initial struggle about this ‘gentlemen only ladies forbidden’ thought process
is now a matter of the past. Today India’s young professional golfers are playing on the European Tour while there has been good progress on the number of women playing as amateurs in the country’s various clubs.

The government is showing keenness to promote golf and sport tourism.
The Professional Golf Tour of India, The Indian Golf Union and even the Women’s Golf Association of India are teeing off new efforts to get the game on the fairway. With the new government there is additional impetus to golf as some special programs are getting
underway to promote the sport and tourism around it. Golf’s a wholesome game as it lends itself to not just a beautiful walk and play in the lap of nature but also allows for travel, family holidays, new picturesque destinations and plenty of togetherness.
Indian government is finally taking note of the sport’s ability to appeal to people and make them travel from one part of the world to other. While for years people have journeyed to the mecca of golf Scotland, now there is the desire among golf addicts to
explore courses of India, China and the far east. And for them there is plenty on offer. The Delhi Golf Club in the heart of the capital nurtures some of the best holes in the immediate vicinity of domes and Mughal structures not less than 500 to 1000 years
old. Global golfers are often left agape at the historic trivia and presence of such remarkable structures. At the other end of the spectrum are courses like DLF Golf Club in Gurgaon, Royal Springs in Kashmir or undulating short-course in Kodaikanal or even
the very pristine but challenging course at Aamby Valley, Pune. India now can confidently and conclusively offer some great golf holidays.

(Delhi Golf Club)Turn back time. To think that the Americans got their
golf few decades after India, and the Chinese had its tryst with the sport only a few years ago. India has done well to rise from days when guttapercha made the golf ball to the new age of titaniums that rule fairways. Much has indeed changed from the years
when the Indian Armed Forces fostered the leftover British legacy of the game to grow it and spread it to the public at large. Now the efforts restored to promote the sport from within the government and by independent bodies and corporations is something
that needs to gather further momentum.

As a business journalist I have interviewed over three hundred global and Indian executives on what they learn from the game. Now the time has come for golf to be lifted to its next phase. A lot of that will be driven by the government as it explores new ways
to promote the sport, see how new technology and ideas are helping popularise it and just what kind of new environment friendly efforts are improving the cost-benefit analysis for the game.

There are endless possibilities in the growth of the sport. I am certain golf’s future will pick the country as a demographic play. And that the promise of numbers will bring global names, sponsors, technology, innovation and attention to the sport in the country.
Like in any idea, business will have to remain at the central of its growth. And hopefully it will.

( Shaili chopra is an award winning Business journalist, author and the founder of golfingindian.com.)

It’s a life-changing miracle, midwifed by technology and given wings by creative diplomacy.Ten years ago, a pioneering idea was born that promised to cohere technology, knowledge and innovation to transform the lives of thousands of Africans and to bring India
and Africa closer in an empowering partnership of mutual resurgence. That idea has now blossomed into a full-fledged network that provides telemedicine and tele-education to Africans living thousands of miles away by linking them with top educational institutions
and super-speciality hospitals in India.

The network aims to bridge the digital divide by providing seamless and integrated satellite, fibre optics and wireless network connecting African nations. Called the Pan-African e-network, it has now come to encompass 48 African nations and has emerged as
a symbol of innovation and development-driven partnership between India and a resurgent African continent.

Bridging Digital Divide

The evolution of the e-network telescopes the culture of close consultations and collaborations that mark the burgeoning India-Africa partnership. Brainchild of Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, India’s preeminent scientist, the idea was first proposed by the then president
during his speech to the Pan-African parliament on September 16, 2004 in Johannesburg, which was attended by officials of African countries as well as the African Union. The idea struck an instant chord, with paper work being completed in a record time, leading
to the signing of a pact between India and the AU for setting up the pan-Africa e-network in the summer of 2005.

The first phase of the project, covering 11 countries, was inaugurated
Feb 26, 2009 by India’s then External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who is now the president of India. The second phase launched in August 2010 brought 12 more African countries within the compass of this ambitious project that is scripting a new path
of salvation for the African people through better health and education. The project is also equipped to support e-governance, e-commerce, infotainment, resource mapping and meteorological and other services in the African countries, besides providing VVIP
connectivity among the Heads of State of the African countries through a highly secure closed satellite network. India’s Ministry of External Affairs is the nodal ministry for the project while Telecommunications Consultants India Limited (TCIL) is implementing
the project on a turnkey basis.

Transforming Lives

Built at a cost of $125 million, the e-network is already transforming lives of ordinary Africans. Under the tele-education component of the network, more than 2000 students from Africa have been enrolled in five different top ranking universities in India
in a host of disciplines like MBA, Master in Finance Control, PG Diploma in IT, M.Sc. in IT and Bachelor in Finance & Investment Analysis. Regular tele-education live sessions have elicited an enthusiastic response from African students. Tele-medical consultations
have also started between the African doctors and the Indian specialists. Nearly 700 Continued Medical Education (CME) lectures have been delivered by Indian doctors from top Indian super specialty hospitals. Enthused by the African response, India has even
offered training at the regional level by conducting workshops in the tele-medicine and tele-education modules for optimizing benefits of the project.

Knowledge-Sharing

Hailed as a "shining symbol of South-South cooperation,” the project has garnered many accolades, including the prestigious Hermes Prize for innovation in the field of sustainable development. The prize was announced by the European Institute of Creative Strategies
and Innovation, a think tank that promotes strategies for innovation and renewal in Europe and worldwide, at a meeting in Paris four years ago. Blending technology with social transformation, the project shows the creative possibilities of using ICT to catalyze
lasting socio-economic changes.

Dr Kalam, the progenitor of the e-network concept, has aptly described the network as "a model of international social responsibility” and "an enabler which has a cascading effect on the socio-economic development of many nations and societies.”"Our efforts
aim at sharing the knowledge gained among the friendly nations, so that India, with its mission of a knowledge society, holds the hands of other developing nations together to achieve sustainable development across the world,” says Kalam. With its focus on
knowledge-sharing and skill-building, the e-network project epitomises India’s development-centric engagement with Africa that revolves around the trinity of trade, training and technology transfer. Capacity-building and human resource development are twin
prongs of India’s larger strategic intent to partner the African continent in its ongoing resurgence. It is with this larger vision of aiding Africa’s quest to become a knowledge-driven society that India is looking to set up over a hundred training institutes
across Africa. These training institutes encompass diverse areas ranging from agriculture, rural development and food processing to information technology, vocational training, English language centres, and entrepreneurial development institutes. In the two

India-Africa summits held in New Delhi in April 2008 and Addis Ababa in
May 2011, India pledged over $8 billion in lines of credit for a host of development projects across the continent. On the economic front, bilateral ties are on an upswing, with trade growing manifold from less than a billion dollar barely two decades ago
to over $60 billion. If the Afro-enthusiasm among the Indian businesses is anything to go by, the two sides can easily surpass the target of scaling up bilateral trade to $90 billion by 2015.This multi-pronged development partnership is expected to scale new
frontiers when New Delhi hosts the third India-Africa summit later this year.
The African Dream

Africa is often described as resource-rich, but with more than half its billion-plus population young and restless to carve their own destiny, the continent should be more fittingly labelled as "people-rich.” It is this inexhaustible richness of the African
people that India, with its proven prowess in knowledge industries and capacity building, is banking on to help fructify the African dream. The pan-Africa e-network has shown the way to think innovatively and partner Africa in its transformational journey.
Let a thousand ideas bloom and connect, to create enduring networks of knowledge and innovation that shrink distances, create an inclusive global society and bring people together in quest of more fulfilling lives.

(Manish Chand is Editor-in-Chief of India Writes Network, www.indiawrites.org, an e-magazine and journal focused on international relations, the India Story and emerging powers. He is also Editor of "Two Billion Dreams: Celebrating
India-Africa Friendship” and a co-editor of Engaging with Resurgent Africa).

Devi is the female goddess, venerated in India by the majority Hindu community as the source of primordial power, the symbol of piety and purity.

Yet, in a country of such great tradition and culture, Indian women are in the news globally for all the wrong reasons: sexual harassment and societal subjugation. In the past decade with the information boom having touched all corners of the globe, unfiltered
news about India is available to all. It has meant that the focus in the past two years has been on crimes against women in India rather than on women achievers from India.

This tinge in global focus on women in India is due to the global expectations from the world’s largest democracy. The world looks upon India as an emergent power and it is impossible for India to be a power in this region with half its population lagging behind.

One of India’s most powerful Prime Ministers was a woman. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi ruled with an iron-fist and led an almost entirely male cabinet for
decades, pulling India out of famines and war, into a Green Revolution that transformed Indian agriculture. Several years later, her daughter-in-law Sonia Gandhi would take over the reins of the oldest political party in the country, lead it to victory but
refuse to become Prime Minister and appointed her loyal colleague Dr Manmohan Singh instead. India’s current External Affairs Minister is Sushma Swaraj who is the second woman to occupy that post, the first being Indira Gandhi.

We have many woman leaders in industry too. Chennai-born Indra Nooyi is the president and chief executive officer of PepsiCo, the world’s fourth-largest food
and beverage company. Fortune Magazine selected her as the Most Powerful Woman in Business in 2006. Chanda Kochhar is CEO and MD of ICICI Bank, India’s largest private bank.

In sports, Sania Mirza is the highest ranked female tennis player ever from India, with a career high ranking 31 in singles and 24 in doubles. Mary Kom is
a five-time World Amateur Boxing champion and the only woman boxer to have won a medal in each one of the six world championships and an Olympic medal. She has inspired hundreds of girls in the country to take up competitive sports. Equally inspiring is the
young Saina Nehwal, who is the first Indian to win a medal in Badminton at the Olympics.

Indian women authors like Arundhati Roy, Jhumpa Lahiri, Anita Desai have won many international literary awards and global critical acclaim. Then there are
women who work for society, tirelessly and many times without the limelight. Medha Patkar has worked for the socially downtrodden who get displaced due to mega development projects, Mother Teresa’s Sisters of Charity works ceaselessly among the poor and marginalized.
Ela Bhat founded the Self Employed Women Association (SEWA) that works for empowering employment among rural women.

In the field of entertainment, the list of women achievers is unending: from the golden melodious voices of Bollywood for decades, Lata Mangeshkar and Asha
Bhonsle, to the popular and acclaimed actresses like Shabana Azmi, Meena Kumari, Aishwarya Rai and film makers like Mira Nair and Kalpana Lajmi. Blessed with such talent, Indian films, particularly those made in Mumbai, have captivated audiences across the
globe.

While the list of current women achievers is impressive, the list of Indian women who stand out in history is equally stellar. Ancient texts show that women
in India in the Vedic period (ca.1750–500 BCE) had access to education and enjoyed almost equal rights as men. Razia Sultan, Chand Bibi, Rani Laxmi Bai were heroic figures whose tales of bravery and courage are narrated even today. Many women leaders played
stellar roles in the freedom movement, and other even ruled as queens in erstwhile princely states.

The Indian Constitution guarantees equality to all women and no discrimination by the state but it is an uphill battle in practice to break through the glass ceiling. In rural India, women constitute nearly 85 percent of the work force but they rarely own land.
In urban India, they are present in offices and construction sites but are paid less than their male counterparts. With awareness increasing among Indian women about their rights and responsibilities, they are growing more assertive, ready to take on challenges
and march in step with their male counterparts. In an India on the march, women will have to be an integral part of the country’s success story.

There has been little news in the Information Technology (IT) sector around the world where, in some manner or form, India is not mentioned and as a result, India is now well known for its IT prowess. Thirty years ago, it was hard for most of us to imagine
this.

The story of the Indian pharma sector could well have been like the IT sector if only enough attention was paid to its achievements and the huge impact it has had on healthcare around the world. Unlike other manufacturing or heavy industries in India, the pharma
sector is innovative, widely acknowledged as making a global impact in the treatment of diseases like HIV AIDS and also able to support the healthcare needs of the world.

The fact that Indian factories are licensed to produce 3,685 drugs compared with 3,815 made within the UK suggests that Indian factories meet global quality standards and are able to produce complex drugs. While news of regulators visiting Indian manufacturing
facilities and finding fault with processes is widely reported, very little is said about how routine this is. Gerald Heddell, director of inspections, enforcement and standards at the MHRA, stressed that the number of problems identified by regulators in
India was in proportion to the volume of medicines they produced. "When we look back over 110 inspections we conducted over the last two years in India, we had significant concerns with 9 or 10 companies,” he said. "That does not represent a statistically
higher proportion than in other parts of the world. India stands out because it is just such a big supplier.” The Indian pharma Industry produces about 20% of the global generic drugs with the US accounting for nearly 28 per cent of Indian pharmaceutical exports,
followed by the European Union at 18 per cent and Africa at over 17 per cent. This should be a clear acknowledgement of the global leadership that Indian pharma industry has achieved which would have been impossible without following global quality standards.

Another popular criticism of Indian pharma has been that there is insufficient investment in innovation and R&D. Despite over 500 new drugs being discovered by Indian
pharma companies during 1985 – 2005, there seems a perception that India thrives on copying foreign products. A recent study by Evaluate, a leading independent specialist pharma consultancy, reports that there is little difference in the investment by "innovators”
and "generics” and it is just a myth that "innovators” invest heavily in research while "generics” don’t.

Despite well publicised claims of the Western world, there seems to be a marked decrease in R&D investments and this trend is expected to continue. When one realises that almost 50% of the European pharma patents are either lying dormant or filed in order to
block competitors one wonders how innovation is being defined and encouraged. Is it innovation if the effect is stifling further innovation and competition and creating barriers for improvements?

Indian pharma industry has clearly demonstrated that it has the potential to be a part of the solution for universal access to healthcare. India’s strength is innovating to improve global access to medicines as opposed to developing more and more "me too” drugs
which have been traditionally defined by the West as innovation. There is now a growing acknowledgment that the existing IPR regime that is being touted by the West doesn’t foster innovation.

As such, the current patent system is itself reeling from the ill effects of patent assertion entities (trolls) that do not produce anything of value but merely
hold patents with a view to threatening businesses with infringement actions to obtain licensing revenue. Patents have other flaws that relate to monopoly power, both because it harms consumers who have to pay high prices and because it can hinder improvements
and subsequent innovations. Static distortions, too little incentive for original research, and wasteful duplication of research are some of the most serious problems of the patent system. In addition to TRIPs - compliant patent regimes which ostensibly promote
innovation and discourage copying, the next generation of barriers to competition seems to be set up as global standards. Just as IPR was addressed by the WTO in TRIPs, the more recent barriers are likely to be in the form of harmonised regulations. Patent
linkage (in Canada and the US for example) denies access to markets on a mere allegation of patent infringement. Despite the US Supreme Court indicating that patent linkage needs to be reconsidered and access to medicines should not be denied on allegation
of patent infringement and recent attempts by Italy to introduce a system of patent linkage resulted in a notice from the European Commission asking for the removal of these provisions from Italian law, patent linkage is a real barrier to competition in healthcare
which is beset with unaffordable drugs.

Data exclusivity extends the term of monopoly enjoyed by patent holders and keeps out competition and innovation without any benefits to society. This concept does not exist in sectors other than pharma and there seems to be no real rationale for pharma to
get special treatment. In fact, data exclusivity raises several ethical and moral issues.

Countries have always been allowed to customise their IP policy and regulation based on their unique local conditions. Some countries are more technologically proficient
than others, and this distinction may warrant separate norms in areas of technology that they are strong in. Even where harmonisation has been accepted as a concept, like the EU for example, it has been implemented in a manner that is sympathetic to the local
conditions of individual countries. India’s strength and expertise lies in developing drugs which are accessible for patients across the globe. India’s stand on IPR regime acknowledges that diverse countries cannot be forced to one uniform regulatory system.
This principled stand was recently demonstrated during the Bali round of talks on the Trade Facilitation Agreement.

In the background of the Trans Pacific and Trans Atlantic Partnerships being negotiated, India has the opportunity to demonstrate leadership in the global market place by pioneering the opposition to using harmonisation as a proxy for barriers to competition.
While the US and its allies may officially oppose India’s view of the IPR regime they have realised that the key to their sustainable development is the ability of government to ensure that healthcare is accessible to everyone, not just the rich. Cost of healthcare
has increased significantly causing an alarming number of patients to go off treatment, risk importing counterfeits or in many cases, declare bankruptcy .

The issue of access to healthcare in the developing world has, despite some efforts by the UN, The Global Fund, PEPFAR and other aid institutions, not had the impact that it should have. There is a realisation, albeit unarticulated, that Indian Pharma companies
have the potential to be, like Indian technology companies averted the y2K crisis, a key element of the solution to world's healthcare crisis. Now is a great opportunity for India to demonstrate leadership in IPR regimes as more and more countries like South
Africa and Brazil are following India’s example.
]]>16/08/2014 16:51:29MEA Adminhttps://mea.gov.in/in-focus-article.htm?23932/Indian+Pharmaceutical+Industry++Affordable+Access+to+Healthcare+for+all
MEA2393223928Placing Clean Water at the Heart of Good Governance in IndiaPallava Bagla

In water, there is life and without water, there is no life. Water is almost a producer of life. From thick jungles where diverse plants and animals throng to human settlements that naturally seek water and cluster around it forever; this is one natural resource
that is at the core of life on Earth. Today more than ever the new Prime Minister Narendra Modi led government is placing clean water at the heart of good governance. So when Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave a clarion call on July 29, 2014 when speaking to
agriculture specialists seeking `per drop, more crop’, it automatically touches a chord among Indians.

Personally I have often wondered whether it is blood that runs through my veins, or is it that elixir of life my parched ancestors describe as liquid gold? Even as a child, when I learnt from my father of our roots, which traced back to Churu, a small township
in the desert state of Rajasthan in western India, where summer temperatures soar up to 50 degrees Centigrade, it was the dryness and utter lack of water that caught in my throat. Discomfiting, questioning, always – till I began to feel and sense the enormous
abuse of water in average daily human life – for I spent many wildly happy hours of my childhood on the banks of the holiest of the Indian rivers the Ganga.

Fresh potable water is at a premium and may possibly become the rate-determining step in the future. India with over a 1.2 billion people makes up almost 17 percent of the world's population – the contrast is that the country possesses merely 4 percent of the
world's fresh water resources with the renewable fresh water resources of India standing at 1869 billion cubic meters (BCM) per year. Currently every Indian has access to less than a fourth of what is the world average and disparities are only growing. Can
this thirsty divide between the water-starved and the water-rich be bridged sound water management and by deploying best practices.

(A serious effort is being made to clean up India’s national river The Ganga, here devout Hindu women
are praying to the river goddess at the 2013 Kumbh Mela, the single largest gathering of humans at any one place. Credit and copyright: Pallava Bagla ) There is a huge renewed interest in cleaning the river Ganga with the new National Democratic
Alliance government even renaming the central water ministry as the `Ministry for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation’. On July 7, 2014 a large inter-ministerial national consultation called `Ganga Manthan’ was organized in New Delhi
where it was recommended that a honest effort will be made that in next five years a clean free flowing Ganga is given back to Indians. The new government is undoubtedly focusing heavily on providing clean water, towards that a massive effort to clean up India’s
National river the Ganga has been allocated $ 340 million in the budget, the 2500 kilometer long northern Indian river whose basin houses some 400 million people, has been heavily polluted and Modi promises to clean it up by 2019. He made this promise while
giving a victory speech on the banks of the Ganga from his own constituency in Varanasi.

According to estimates by the Ministry of Water `the per capita availability of water in the country is 1545 cubic meters as per the 2011 census. The per capita water availability in the country is reducing progressively due to increase in population. The average
annual per capita availability of water in the country, taking into consideration the population of the country as per the 2001 census, was 1816 cubic meters which reduced to 1545 cubic meters as per the 2011 census.’

According to estimates put out by the National Water Development Agency (NWDA) to meet the irrigation potential of 160 million hectares by 2050 up from the current of about 100 million hectares, new strategies will have to be adopted especially since India’s
population is likely to be anywhere between 1.4 to 1.5 billion up from the current 1.2 billion. To feed the people by then the country will have to produce some 450 million tons of food grains, almost doubling the output in less than four decades. Ensuing
that the country gets more crop per drop will the big game changer.

Rivers are sacred in India, a man offers his prayers to the River Ganga in spite of the fact that the
river is highly polluted. The Prime Minister Narendra Modi led government has made elaborate plans to clean the river by 2019. Credit and copyright: Pallava Bagla A government report states that `due to limited availability of water, but growing
demand of water due to increasing population, urbanization and industrialization. India is facing water stress. In addition due to contamination of water sources and poor water treatment facility it is often difficult to get safe drinking water.’ All of these
are to be tackled at a war footing.

Today, a truant monsoon is causing some heartburn in India. The monsoon rainfall is the harbinger of life in the Sub-continent affecting the lives of nearly a quarter of the world’s population, so it is not surprising that India has been trying to forecast
the summer monsoon for over a century, not always succeeding in predicting droughts.

To make the long-range forecasts of the monsoon more accurate, India has launched a $ 75 million, 5-year research program called the `monsoon mission’ to decipher the mystery of the monsoon. The southwest monsoon is that life-giving phenomenon which showers
on the Indian landmass 80% of the total annual of 105 cm rainfall that India receives. Every year between June-September, moisture-laden winds blowing in from the Indian Ocean rejuvenate the parched Indian countryside. The monsoon arrives without fail, but
forecasting it months ahead is a nightmare. The drought of 2002 shrank India’s GDP by an estimated 5.8%. Calling the monsoon an `intriguing phenomenon’. Shailesh Nayak, a geologist and secretary for the Ministry of Earth Sciences says `understanding the monsoon
is a major priority for the next five years’.

India has almost 17 percent of the world’s population living on some 4 percent of the world’s fresh water
resources. Here women in Gujarat return after filling their pitchers of water from a well. Credit and copyright: Pallava Bagla According to the government `water quality data of various river stretches has revealed that organic pollution particularly
Bio-chemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) has exceeded the desired water quality criteria in 150 river stretches covering 121 rivers. The major cause of rising organic pollution, particularly BOD in these rivers, is due to discharge of untreated and partially treated
domestic effluents by various municipalities across the country. Pollution abatement in rivers is an ongoing and collective effort of the central and state governments. Ministry of Environment & Forests, Government of India is supplementing the efforts of
the state governments in pollution abatement in various rivers through the centrally sponsored National River Conservation Plan (NRCP), which presently covers 40 rivers in 190 towns spread over 20 States. Pollution abatement schemes include interception, diversion
and treatment of sewage; low cost sanitation works on riverbanks; gas fired, electric or at times improved wood crematoria are being used. Sewage treatment capacity of 4574 million liters per day has been created. Nobody can doubt that rivers in India are
heavily polluted and giving them a quick scrub will certainly make India a healthier place.

And yet, through all the haze, is undying worship the likes of which was witnessed at the world’s largest ever gathering of human beings on Earth at the 2013 Kumbh mela in Allahabad that numbered well over 30 million. When one witnesses the power of that simple
down to Earth worship, one can easily pack up all concerns and stand up to celebrate – for that is what water is all about.

Yet, the devout still throw remnants of their religious ceremonies into the river closest to them, perhaps in the hope that the river, and its swirling (or sometimes disturbingly stagnant) water, in its inherent magnanimity, will pardon all, will absorb the
overload, and will continue to throb and flow and provide. The even more devout throng to the Maha Kumbh every few years in lifelong praise of water, whether they are the primordial Naga sadhus or ordinary unsung housewives who spend whole lives collecting
and preserving Ganga water in their homes. I ask myself that question very often – what does water really mean to me? Everything, perhaps. I remember how, in 2002, when India was reeling under a terrible drought, the economy took a real beating. And as I traveled,
I saw the power of water, and of communities that rose to create and conserve water, in the villages of Alwar in Rajasthan rejuvenating a long lost river with the active participation of the local communities.

The whole spirit of water is of tranquility and peace, praise and cleansing. Yet, there are wars, and it is predicted they have only just begun. The wars may be over the use of water, over its sharing, over who gets how much. This war plays out each day, all
the time, in countless Indian cities, towns, and villages. Its many scenes are depicted in the long and tired queues of women with more pitchers than they can hold, in the growing frequency of water tankers that actually sell water in many parts of the country,
and in the larger political dramas that unfold around the sharing of rivers between states and the damming of water.

But water endures, and also manages to push human endurance beyond limits. It befriends, pacifies, cajoles and makes its way into the lives of the unlikeliest of people. It draws humans, animals and plants alike. It can make or break ecosystems and economies.
It entices industry and beckons even the atheist. Water is at what must truly be the center of the Universe for every Indian. Better governance of this vital resource will ensure a healthy and prosperous future for India. Pallava Bagla

Pallava Bagla is Science Editor for New Delhi Television and a globally recognized science writer. Author of the forthcoming book `Reaching for the Stars’ to be published by Bloomsbury India. Views expressed are personal. He
can be reached at:
Pallava.bagla@gmail.com
Twitter: pallavabagla

(External Affairs Minister at 4th East Asia Summit Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar)
The "neighbours first” policy of the new government in India is again in focus with India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on her maiden visit to Myanmar August 8-11 for bilateral talks, as well as to attend ministerial meetings connected with ASEAN,
East Asia Summit and ASEAN Regional Forum. Myanmar will be the first Southeast Asian country Sushma Swaraj will be visiting after trips to three important neighbours in South Asia: Bhutan, Bangladesh and Nepal. The minister’s visit will take place soon after
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s path-breaking trip to Nepal, and underlines the centrality of immediate and extended neighbourhood in India’s foreign policy matrix.
Why Myanmar matters: 5 Bs

A bridge between South Asia and Southeast Asia, Myanmar has loomed large on India’s
diplomatic horizon. Blending business, culture and diplomacy, there is a strong connect between the two countries. Buddhism, Business, Bollywood, Bharatnatyam and Burma teak -- these are the five Bs that frame India-Myanmar relations in popular imagination.
Moving beyond this rich configuration, the relations are now acquiring greater economic weight and strategic orientation.

The minister’s visit to Myanmar comes days after the foreign office consultations between the two countries in New Delhi that saw the two sides discussing an entire gamut of bilateral issues, including trade and investment, energy and development cooperation.
The talks in Nay Pi Taw, the new capital of Myanmar, will set the stage for Prime Minister Modi’s visit to the Southeast Asian country in November for the India-ASEAN summit and East Asia Summit.

The importance of Myanmar for India is all-too-obvious: India and Myanmar share a long land border of over 1600 km and a maritime boundary in the Bay of Bengal. Nurturing all-round relations with Myanmar is crucial to the economic transformation of India’s
north-eastern states. Myanmar is also critical to India’s national security. The two countries have sealed a pact to share real time intelligence to combat Indian insurgents operating out of the border region. The pact envisages the conduct of coordinated
patrols on each side of the border and maritime boundary and entails exchange of information to jointly combat insurgency, arms smuggling and drug, human and wildlife trafficking.

The bilateral relations, underpinned by the 1951 Treaty of Friendship, have stood the test of time and shown a rare dynamism and resilience. The visit of the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1987 laid the foundations for a robust relationship between India
and Myanmar. The dawn of the third millennium has seen bilateral ties acquire a new force.

Two-way visits

The relations have experienced a visible upswing in the last four years since Myanmar’s
embrace of political and economic reforms a few years ago. This was reflected in a spate of high-profile two-way visits: President U. Thein Sein came to India on October 12-15, 2011, the first state visit from Myanmar to India following the swearing-in of
a new government in Myanmar in March 2011. This was followed by another transformational visit by India’s then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Myanmar from May 27-29, 2012, an important milestone that saw the two sides signing a dozen agreements and India
extending a new line of credit (LOC) for US$500 million to Myanmar. President Thein Sein attended the India-ASEAN Commemorative Summit in December 2012 in Delhi and also visited Mumbai and Ratnagiri. Manmohan Singh visited Myanmar again for the BIMSTEC summit
in March 2014.
Scaling up economic ties

Imparting a renewed momentum to economic relations will be a key focus area in the days to come. The energy-rich and resource-rich Myanmar has emerged as a land of opportunity, and with political and economic reforms it embarked on three years ago, the two
countries look poised to galvanise its economic ties. Bilateral trade has gone up from barely 12 million dollars in the early 80s to nearly $2 billion.

A host of Indian companies have already pitched their tent in Myanmar and are thriving. These include, among others, the state-owned ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL), Jubilant Oil and Gas, Century Ply, Tata Motors, Essar Energy, RITES, Escorts, Ranbaxy, Cadila Healthcare
Ltd, Dr. Reddy’s Lab., CIPLA, and Apollo. Top Indian companies are looking to invest $2.6 billion in a host of industries, including telecommunications, energy and aviation.

Energising Ties

Energy cooperation is an important pillar of bilateral relations, with India’s state-owned
and private companies acquiring gas blocs in that country. Seven Indian companies are among 59 companies shortlisted by the Myanmar government for submission of final bids for 18 onshore gas blocks on offer. OVL and GAIL have already announced $1.33 billion
investment in China-Myanmar gas pipeline project.

Food Security

Home to sprawling stretches of virgin forests and fertile land, Myanmar is emerging as a food granary of the region. Not surprisingly, India's imports from Myanmar are dominated by beans, pulses and forest-based products. With its prowess in agricultural technologies,
India has been all too willing to share its expertise to transform agricultural sector in Myanmar. In 2012, during then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Yangon, India pledged support for setting up an Advanced Centre for Agriculture Research and Education
in Yezin and a Rice Bio-park in the integrated Demonstration Park in Nay Pyi Taw.

Development Cooperation

Capacity building and development cooperation are twin prongs of the growing India-Myanmar partnership. India has provided $500 million line of credit to Myanmar for a host of infrastructure and capacity building projects, the largest LOC to any Southeast Asian
country. India has been in the forefront of empowering the people of Myanmar through training programmes like the ITEC and setting up centres of excellence in Myanmar like the Myanmar Institute of Information Technology (MIIT), which is being set up at Mandalay.
(Industrial Training Centres, Myanmar-India Centre for English Language (MICELT), Myanmar-India Entrepreneurship Development Centre (MIEDC), India-Myanmar Centre for Enhancement of IT Skills (IMCEITS), Language Laboratories and E-Resource Centre at the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs in Yangon and Nay Pyi Taw are some other outstanding projects that have been set up with India’s assistance).

Given Myanmar’s geostrategic location, India is focusing on accelerating connectivity projects like the Kaladan Multimodal Transit Transport Project and building/upgrading 71 bridges on the Tamu-Kalewa-Kalemyo road. The trilateral highway that will provide
seamless connectivity between India, Myanmar and Thailand by 2016 is poised to be a game-changer.

Democracy Connect

Myanmar’s ongoing journey towards democratic transformation promises to bring India and Myanmar closer as the Southeast Asian country taps India’s expertise in institution-building. In the past few years, scores of parliamentarians from Myanmar have been coming
to India for training in parliamentary practices and procedures.

People Power

(Shwedagon Pagoda, Yangon, Myanmar) While diplomacy and business have their own logic,
it’s people-to-people relations that impart a special character to the enduring friendship between India and Myanmar. Myanmar is home to 2.5 million-strong Indian diaspora, settled mostly in Yangon and Mandalay. Iconic Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi has a
special connection with India. She studied in Delhi’s Lady Shriram College when her mother was posted as ambassador in India. Boddh Gaya, the birthplace of Lord Buddha, is a must-visit place for Myanmar’s leaders and pilgrims. The Sarnath-style Buddha statue
donated by the Indian government to people of Myanmar and installed at the Shwedagon Pagoda premises remains a shining symbol of cultural and civilizational connect between the two countries. Straddling the classical and the modern, Bollywood and Bharatnatyam
are equally popular in Myanmar. And yoga is acquiring new devotees among the young and the old in the neighbouring country.

Seize the Day

Myanmar’s opening-up in recent years has made the country an arena of competition among established and new players. The democratisation, along with economic reforms, has unleashed new opportunities for India, which is determined to make up for lost time. With
a creative blend of diplomacy, diplomacy and culture, the India-Myanmar relations can only scale new heights in days to come.

(Manish Chand is Editor-in-Chief of India Writes Network,www.indiawrites.org, a portal and e-journal focused on international affairs and the India Story)

Look East. And follow the Asian Dream. Intertwining economies, interlinking destinies and creating an arc of prosperity across the region, India’s Look East Policy is cruising along on a higher trajectory. After putting India’s South Asia diplomacy in high
gear, the new government in Delhi is now looking East as External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj heads to Myanmar, the chair of the 10—nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the 18-nation East Asia Summit (EAS). In Myanmar, the minister
will participate in India-ASEAN ministerial meeting, ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) foreign ministers’ meeting and East Asia summit ministerial meeting. Put together, these separate but interlinked meetings reflect various facets of India’s Look East policy and
will set the tone and tenor for the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Myanmar in November for the India-ASEAN summit and EAS.

Heads of State/Government at the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit, 2012 in New Delhi (December,
2012)Enhanced Look East policy

The meetings will put the spotlight on India’s blossoming ties with ASEAN and the larger East Asia region, home to the world’s rapidly growing economies. Launched in the early 1990s that coincided with path-breaking economic reforms, India’s Look East policy
has now acquired substantive economic and strategic weight. Nearly two years ago, in December 2012, the leaders of India and the ASEAN gathered in the Indian capital to celebrate two defining milestones in their relationship: the 20th anniversary of India’s
sectoral dialogue partnership with the ASEAN and the 10th anniversary of their annual summits. India-ASEAN ties have now entered a new high-speed phase, which experts are rightly calling "Enhanced Look East” policy or "Look East Policy: 3.0.”

Economically, the India-ASEAN relations have acquired an unstoppable momentum. The India-ASEAN trade has crossed $80 billion. The signing of a Free Trade Area in goods in 2009 was a game-changer of sorts, and now the two sides are looking to sign the India-ASEAN
Free Trade Agreement on Services and Investment. With the institutional framework in place, the two sides are now confident of scaling the India-ASEAN trade to $100 billion by 2015 and double that volume by 2022.

Strategic Depth

In recent years, India has taken a slew of steps to galvanise relations with this economically vibrant region, which includes the setting up of an Indian mission to the ASEAN in Jakarta, and the decision to set up an ASEAN-India Centre for Trade and Investment.
While trade and investment remain the core of the India-ASEAN engagement, the two sides have opened new vistas of cooperation on cross-cutting security issues and imbued bilateral ties with the much-needed strategic depth. The festering tensions in the South
China Sea have lent an added urgency to the strategic dimension of the relationship.

With the economies of India and the ASEAN growing and their energy needs going up, another area that is bringing the two sides closer is the pursuit of maritime security and enhanced cooperation in combating terrorism and piracy. India has consistently pitched
for freedom of navigation, which has received across-the-board endorsement from ASEAN nations and East Asia. On these trans-national issues, India is not only active on the ASEAN track, but has also been a proactive participant in shaping discourse on these
issues in the ASEAN Regional Forum and the East Asia summit process. India sees the 27-member ARF as a key regional platform for forging consensus on security issues and evolving an inclusive regional architecture. This year, the ARF is expected to discuss
a cluster of regional and global issues, including the rise of radical extremism in Iraq, the Syria crisis, Afghanistan and the North Korea nuclear tests. While the ARF and East Asia summit have their own agenda and raison d’etre, New Delhi sees the ASEAN-India
strategic partnership as "an anchor for peace, stability and prosperity in the region as also globally.” India has also underlined the centrality of ASEAN to regional fora such as the East Asia Summit, the ASEAN Regional Forum, the ASEAN Defence Ministers’
Meeting Plus and the Expanded ASEAN Maritime Forum.

Taking a long-range view, India has robustly backed the creation of an ASEAN Community by 2015, the precursor to an unfolding Asian century, the Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI) and the Narrowing of the Development Gap. In pursuit of these goals, India
has been prompt with buttressing capacity building through the Entrepreneurship Development Centres (EDCs) and Centers for English Language and Training (CELTs) in CLMV (Cambodia, Myanmar, Lao PDR and Vietnam) countries. India has also offered more than 1100
scholarships to ASEAN countries under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) programme.

Only Connect

Connectivity is the reigning mantra as India deepens its diplomatic, economic and cultural ties with its extended neighbourhood. India has vigorously backed fast-tracking a host of connectivity projects that will quicken regional integration and has supported
the Master Plan on ASEAN Plus Connectivity (MPAC). New Delhi is also looking forward to conclusion of negotiations for an ASEAN-India Transit Transport Agreement by 2015. The Tamu-Kalewa-Kalemyo sector of the India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway is progressing
well – the completion of this project in 2016 is poised to create a new dynamic in India’s multi-faceted relations with the region. India has backed the extension of this highway to Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, its further linkage with ports in ASEAN countries
and its integration with models like Special Economic Zones. Enhancing connectivity to Southeast Asia is critical to unlocking the economic energies and enterprise of India’s north-eastern states, which border the region.

Map of proposed India-Myanmar-Thailand HighwayCultural
affinity

Connectivity is not just geographical and physical; what animates India’s engagement with the region are cultural and spiritual connections, grounded in history and a shared civilizational space. It is from India Buddhism flowed to Southeast Asian countries,
as Buddhists from all over the region flock for pilgrimage to revered shrines Mahabodhi Temple in Bodh Gaya, the sacred place where Lord Buddha attained enlightenment under the Bodhi tree. The revival of Nalanda University, the ancient seat of learning, has
now become a showpiece project of ASEAN and epitomises age-old cultural and spiritual linkages between India and Southeast Asia region. India has signed pacts with several ASEAN and East Asian countries to make Nalanda University an international knowledge
hub.

The Asian Dream

Underpinning this cultural alchemy and an intricate web of rail, road and maritime links is a soaring vision of an Asian century that is becoming increasingly real with the ongoing shift of economic gravity from the north to the south and the west to the east.
There is a lot at stake in the flowering of the Asian dream; in the end, it’s about surging hopes and aspirations of around 1.8 billion people of India and the ASEAN region who are itching to carve their place in a changing world. The world is in a flux, and
many equations may change, but the India-ASEAN ties will not only endure, but looks set to cross new milestones in days to come.

(Manish Chand is Editor-in-Chief of India Writes Network, www.indiawrites.org, a portal and e-journal focused on international affairs and the India Story)

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author.
References

The "defining partnership of the 21st century” is poised for a new beginning as India and the US hold their first strategic dialogue this week after the installation of a new government in New Delhi. Re-energising the relationship, which is often seen by some
to have plateaued after the high of the transformational civil nuclear deal of 2008, and mapping new frontiers of engagement will be the overarching focus of India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and US Secretary of State John Kerry when they hold
full-spectrum talks in New Delhi July 31.

US Secretary of State John Kerry with the then External Affairs Minister
Shri Salman Khurshid in New Delhi (June, 2013)The strategic dialogue at the level of foreign ministers is part of the complex architecture of the India-US engagement which encompasses over 30 discrete dialogue mechanisms, covering diverse areas.
The strategic dialogue was launched in July 2009, and focuses on five pillars: I) Strategic Cooperation II) Energy and Climate Change, Education and Development III) Economy, Trade and Agriculture IV) Science and Technology V) Health and Innovation. The first
Strategic Dialogue was held in Washington DC in June 2010, followed by successive rounds in New Delhi (July 2011), Washington DC (June 2012) and New Delhi (June 2013). The venue of the strategic dialogue has been rotating between the capitals of India and
the US, but 2014 is an exception, with New Delhi hosting it for the second year in a row.

New pragmatism

The messaging from Washington has been pragmatic and affirmative since a change of guard in New Delhi, with a business-friendly prime minister taking charge of the world’s most populous democracy and Asia’s third largest economy. Barely hours after the results
of India’s parliamentary elections were declared on May 16, US President Barack Obama was quick to congratulate Mr Modi on his party’s "historic victory” and invited him to visit Washington. Mr Obama eloquently voiced hope that he looked forward to working
closely with Mr. Modi "to fulfill the extraordinary promise of the US-India strategic partnership.” Days later, Mr Kerry became the first foreign minister to call and congratulate Sushma Swaraj May 28, the day she took charge of India’s external affairs ministry.
Secretary Kerry spoke warmly about "re-energising” the India-US ties and expressed hope that the two countries could scale up bilateral trade five-fold to US$ 500 billion from US$ 100 billion. It was business from the word go – and this is a refreshing change
that will frame the India-US relations in days to come.

It’s the economy, stupid!

Expanding economic ties will be a dominant theme on the table at the fifth round of strategic dialogue in New Delhi, which will set the stage for Prime Minister Modi’s summit meeting with President Obama in Washington in September. On the economic side, the
sky is virtually the limit. There are a set of complex trade-related issues like the IPR that continue to be mired in differing perceptions, but with the new Indian government showing political will to move ahead with ambitious economic reforms there is a
perceptible upswing of enthusiasm among American business and industry bodies about the India Story. The decision to raise the FDI cap to 49 per cent in the insurance sector and opening up the defence sector to foreign investment are path-breaking steps that
should hopefully spur American investments in the days to come. On its part, the US establishment also has to show flexibility and long-term vision to accommodate India’s interests and concerns in relation to the IPR regime’s application to life-saving generic
drugs and visa fee for Indian IT professionals.

Vice President of the United States of America, Mr. Joseph
R. Biden Jr. meeting with Smt. Sushma Swaraj, the then Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha in New Delhi (July, 2013)With the Modi government unveiling its plan to build 100 smart cities and making India the manufacturing and trade hub of Asia,
the potential for upscaling investments is huge. Fast-tracking negotiations for a bilateral investment treaty could prove to be a game-changer. The US is already the fifth largest source of foreign direct investment into India, with cumulative FDI inflows
from the US from April 2000 to March 2014 amounting to about $ 11.92 billion. And it’s no longer a one-way street: Indian companies have invested over US $ 17 billion in the US over the last few years.

Let nuclear energy flow…

President Barack Obama of the United States of America with
Mrs Sushma Swaraj in New Delhi (November, 2010)The first India-US strategic dialogue under the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government will also be the right time to figure out the ‘4-5-6’ of the nuclear deal. Put simply, the two
sides will be focusing their energies on the fruition of the landmark civil nuclear deal that transformed the relationship between the hitherto estranged democracies into engaged democracies. The nuclear rapprochement began in the summer of 2005 and the deal
was signed in 2008. Six years later, it’s time to get nuclear electricity flowing from a US-built reactor in India. In this context, the signing of a preliminary contract between the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and Westinghouse in September
2013 for a nuclear power project in Gujarat bodes well for the future of the deal, which could prove pivotal for India’s energy security.

Bolstering Defence Ties

Besides the nuclear deal, the upswing in defence cooperation has exemplified the ongoing transformation in the India-US ties. The signing of the ‘New Framework for India-U.S. Defense Relations’ in 2005 has led to burgeoning of defence trade and intensification
of joint exercises, personnel exchanges, collaboration and cooperation in maritime security and counter- piracy, and exchanges between each of the three services. Imports of high-end military hardware have surpassed $10 billion. In September 2013, the two
sides took yet another defining step by sealing a Joint Declaration on Defence Cooperation, which envisages qualitatively upgrading the defence relationship by simplifying technology transfer policies and exploring possibilities of co-development and co-production
of defense systems.

Strategic Connect

Finally, with the world in a flux and an arc of instability widening from Africa to Afghanistan, the fifth round of strategic dialogue should see an intense brainstorming on a wide array of regional and global hotspots, including Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq and
the volatile situation in the Middle East. Ensuring peaceful transformation in the post-2014 Afghanistan and the extant sanctuaries of terror in the AfPak region should drive the two countries to work closely to promote peace and stability in a violence-prone
country. The threat posed by trans-national Islamist terror networks, as exemplified by the ISIS in Iraq, should also prod both sides to step up counter-terror cooperation. The two democracies should also be looking to proactively cooperate in shaping an inclusive
East Asian architecture and promote maritime security in the region.

Ideas, Initiative and Innovation

(Dr S Jaishankar, India’s Ambassador to United States of
America)The canvas of the India-US engagement is indeed all-encompassing, but what imparts the relationship its unique character is people-driven engagement and the forging of an enduring innovation-focused partnership in areas of education,
science and technology, clean energy and public health that directly impact the lives of ordinary people.

The restless romantics looking for blockbuster headlines to frame the India-US relations may be a tad disappointed, but the action in the future will be in the realm of ideas and co-creating a new ecosystem of life-changing technologies and innovations. In
a memorable speech entitled ‘India and the US: The Long-View’ at the Harvard Kennedy School this summer, S. Jaishankar, India’s ambassador to the US, has conjured up the idea-driven enterprise that underpins the strategic partnership between the world’s largest
multi-religious secular democracies. "Many of these initiatives can change India, our relationship, perhaps even the larger world. Consider this for a moment, our biotechnologists are together producing the most economical vaccine in the world. Joint Projects
that will take solar refrigeration to Indian villages and revolutionize photovoltaic plate efficiency are underway. So too are public health programs ranging from cancer treatment to cataract detection,” he says.

The Great American Dream, which essentially means scripting your own destiny, has effortlessly intersected with the Indian dream of carving one’s place in the world, with over a billion Indians striving to craft a better life for themselves in the here and
the now. Over 100,000 Indian students studying in various American universities exemplify the twinning of Indian and American dreams.

The 3-million strong Indian diaspora in the US, who are among the most well-educated and well-heeled expatriates, have remained powerful connectors and bridge builders between the world’s two largest democracies, spawning new success stories in their adopted
homeland.

The governments come and go, but the people of the two countries will make sure that India and the US will remain robustly engaged democracies, rejuvenating each other’s society and system with ideas, initiative and innovations, fulfilling the "extraordinary
promise” of what President Obama has famously called "the defining partnership of the 21st century.”

(Manish Chand is Editor-in-Chief of India Writes Network,www.indiawrites.org, a portal and e-journal focused on international affairs and the India Story. Follow him on
twitter@scepticcryptic).
- The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author

1. India’s positive vote on 23rd July in the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, supporting the resolution to launch a probe into Israel’s offensive in Gaza, along with its separate, even handed statements, expressing concern about the "escalating balance perpetrated
by heavy air strikes in Gaza and the disproportionate use of force on the ground resulting in tragic loss of civilian lives and heavy damage to properties” while blaming "non-State actors in the region for causing violence which has had the effect of creating
avoidable obstacles to the peace process”, was consistent with India’s position at the recent BRICS Summit in Brazil where our Prime Minister had cited our concerns and called for a negotiated settlement on the issue. India’s Permanent Representative in New
York had stated that India "remained hopeful that a sustainable ceasefire would be reached between the two sides linked to the resumption of the peace process, for a comprehensive resolution of the Palestinian issue”.

2. Given the complex situation on the ground and use of violence by both sides, Member States of the Council including India, are increasingly
required to carefully balance and assess the situation before taking a final decision on such issues. It encapsulates the dilemma confronting human right mechanisms across the UN system where violation of human rights on all sides makes it increasingly difficult
to make balanced decision. India joined the other BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa) to vote for a Palestinian drafted resolution on "Ensuring Respect For International Law In The Occupied Palestinian Territories, Including East Jerusalem”.
29 countries voted in favour in the 47 member-Council. 17 countries abstained including Member States from the European Union. The USA was the only country to vote against the Resolution. Israel is not a member of the Council. It now remains to be seen how
the Council would implement this Resolution on the ground.

THE ROLE OF THE UNITED NATIONS IN HUMAN RIGHTS STANDARDS SETTING

3. Every UN Human Rights mechanism is based on the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights which enshrined the principle that human beings are born equal in dignity and rights, principles underlying every culture and civilization, religion and philosophy
today. India was an original signatory to the Declaration. At a time when two-thirds of the present membership of the UN was under colonial rule, the Declaration served as a timely reminder that all peoples and States had the right to enjoy human rights and
fundamental freedoms.

(In pic : United Nations World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna in 1993).
4. Historically, developing countries led by India, had insisted that all rights including economic, social and cultural as well as civil and political have the same status and should be respected equally. This perspective in the 70’s in the context of the
political and ideological divisions of the Cold War was strongly opposed by the West. Fortunately, with the end of the Cold War, the principle of respect, promotion and protection of all human rights on the same footing and with same emphasis gained universal
recognition. As Secretary to the Preparatory Committees leading up to the World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna, and as Secretary to the Drafting Committee of the World Conference, under the able leadership of Ambassador Saboia of Brazil, who chaired
the Drafting Committee, I was privileged to witness the intricate negotiations that led to the adoption in 1993 of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action which `reaffirmed the principle of indivisibility, interdependence and interrelatedness of all
human rights’. The ideological pillars of the Human Rights System within the United Nations had made a dramatic shift and would never be coloured by Cold War politics again. They would, however, be influenced by new challenges, including terrorism and non
state actors, to cite a few.

HUMAN RIGHTS MECHANISMS ACROSS THE UN SYSTEM

5. It is important to underline that although the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948, like the Vienna Declaration of 1993 are not legally binding, their main principles have acquired the status of customary international law, which States are legally
bound to respect.
HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL

6. As explained above, this important intergovernmental body has become the apex body within the UN system for strengthening the promotion and protection of Human Rights globally and for addressing situations of human rights violations and making recommendations
on them. It was created by the United Nations General Assembly on 15th March 2006 by resolution 60-251 and its first session took place on 19-30 June 2006. It is composed of 47 member states and replaced the former United Nations Commission on Human Rights
which had outlived its utility after being very active during the Cold War. The Council has a different status and is permanently seized of all human rights issues and situations that require its attention throughout the year. Such issues can be brought in
to attention by Member States at any time.
PROCEDURES AND MECHANISMS OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL

7. These are several and range from the Universal Periodic Review which assesses the human rights situation in all 194 UN member states, once every four years, to the Advisory Committee which serves as the Councils "think-tank”, to the Complaint Procedure which
allows individuals and organisations to bring human rights violations to the attention of the Council.

8. Another Procedure of the Council, is the "Special Procedures” which monitors, advices and publically reports on human rights situation in specific countries or territories, defined as "country mandates” or on major patterns of human rights violations worldwide
known as "thematic mandates”. These mechanisms consist of Special Rapporteurs, Special Representatives, Independent Experts and Working Groups. They visit States upon invitation and report back to the Council.

9. There are, at present, two Commissions of Inquiry established by the Council on Syria and on DPRK apart from the one just created on Gaza. There are also 37 thematic Rapporteurs and 14 country specific Rapporteurs. They report on all human rights whether
economic, social or cultural or civil and political.

10. Country specific mandate Rapporteurs have a complex task in analysizing human rights situations at the national level. They request the State concerned to extend an invitation, upon which the visit takes place. Among the new country mandates established
since 2006 are the Experts/Rapporteurs on Sudan (2009), Islamic Republic of Iran (2011), Cote d’lvoire (2011), Syrian-Arabic Republic (2011), Belarus (2012), Eritria (2012), Mali (2013) and Central African Republic (2013).
INDIA’S APPROACH TO THE COUNCIL

11. India is a founding member of the Council and has served two terms from 2006-2007 and 2007-2010 respectively. India was elected by an unprecedented 181 votes to the Council for the term 2011-2014 and will seek re-election to the Council for the term 2015-2017.
India is highly respected in the Council. India believes that the promotion and protection of human rights are fundamental freedoms can be best pursued through dialogue and cooperation. We have consistently and successfully pleaded for preserving the inter-governmental
nature of the Council’s mechanism and encouraged strengthening of national efforts to realize human rights. We have upheld respect for national sovereignty and territorial integrity, non-interference in the internal affairs of the States, impartiality, non
selectivity and transparency.

12. As noted earlier, the issues are complex and it is important to take a principled stand on gross human rights violations in any particular region of the world. India has abstained on one sided or unbalanced resolutions on country specific situations since
we believe that "finger pointing” cannot be an elegant or effective solution to such issues.

CASE STUDY OF A SPECIALIZED AGENCY : ROLE OF UNESCO IN HUMAN RIGHTS IMPLEMENTATION

13. It is not well known that UN Specialized Agencies especially UNESCO, were actively involved in the elaboration of the Universal
Declaration and its two International Covenants. UNESCO has a Communications Procedure established in 1978 at the height of the Cold War. It provides for the examination of cases and questions submitted to UNESCO by individual petitions on alleged violations
of the human rights within its spheres of competence. These petitions are examined by the Committees on Conventions and Recommendations, a subsidiary organ of UNESCO’s Executive Board, of which India is a member.

14. As a member of this Committee, as Ambassador PR to UNESCO from 2004-2010 I had noted that the conditions of the admissibility of petitions had been carefully elaborated to focus on violations of human rights only within UNESCO’s area of competence i.e.
education, science, culture and information. As opposed to the Human Rights Council, where in cases of disagreement, a vote can be resorted to, the Committee works by consensus and is guided by the principle that the alleged victim should benefit from the
procedure. For this reason, the Committee has achieved remarkable success, due to its unique method of functioning.
CONCLUDING REFLECTIONS

15. These Procedures now face new challenges. Despite efforts by Member States including India to ensure that these mechanisms are able to address in a fair and impartial manner complex issues relating to human rights violations globally, the increasing politicisation
of these bodies often results in deadlock or watered down resolutions which do not address the main issue. One challenge has been to address the direct linkage between terrorism and human rights violations. There is also the imperative of addressing gross
human rights violations by non state actors, acting beyond national boundaries such as in 9/11 and in Mumbai. These challenges remain daunting. However, as long as the intergovernmental nature of these bodies is respected, the quest for increasing universal
respect for justice, rule of law and for human rights and fundamental freedoms will be attainable. It is linked to the ideological yearning for a world where human rights and fundamental freedoms, based on a bedrock of democracy, pluralism and rule of law
are fully understood, respected and upheld.

[The author, a former diplomat was Permanent Representative of India to UNESCO (2004-2010). This article has been written exclusively for ‘In Focus” section of Ministry of External Affairs website,www.mea.gov.in]
]]>27/07/2014 15:28:36MEA Adminhttps://mea.gov.in/in-focus-article.htm?23751/Dilemma+confronting+UN+Human+Rights+Mechanisms
MEA2375123744India-Nepal ties: Mapping New HorizonsBy Manish Chand

It’s a journey that could prove to be path-breaking in mapping new horizons in the age-old India-Nepal relations.
In her second stand-alone visit to a neighbouring country in South Asia, India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj travels to Kathmandu July 25-27, an important trip that promises to usher in a new chapter between the two fraternal neigbours bound by
deep ties of geography, nature, history and culture. The visit underscores yet again the primacy of South Asia in the foreign policy calculus of the new government in New Delhi and comes nearly two months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted the leaders
of SAARC countries for his swearing-in ceremony and a month after Mrs Sushma Swaraj visited Dhaka.

Close and intimate ties

Perhaps no two neighbours have such close and intimate ties, which are rooted in history and manifest in day-to-day existence in a thousand different ways. The facts and figures tell their own story, and evoke a rich tapestry of relations framed by trade and
investment, culture and robust people-to-people contacts. Indians and Nepalese bond and merge so effortlessly that they are hardly seen as foreigners in each other’s country. There are six million Nepalese working in India. And there are 600,000 Indians who
have made Nepal their home. Nepalese can work in India without a work permit, open bank accounts and own property.

Open border has ensured an uninterrupted flow of flow of people between the two countries. Besides, there are 60 flights per week between the two countries. Twenty per cent of all tourists visiting Nepal are from India, and around 40 per cent of tourist flows
to Nepal are through India.

Interlinked economic destinies

The imperatives of geography and history have resulted in an intertwining of the economic fortunes of the two neighbours. Two-thirds of Nepal’s foreign trade is with India, with bilateral trade estimated to be around USD 4.7 billion. India accounts for 47 per
cent of foreign direct investment in Nepal. The trade treaty, which was revised in 1996, has proved to be a pivotal point in economic relations between the two countries. Since 1996, Nepal’s exports to India have burgeoned more than eleven times and bilateral
trade more than seven times. Indian firms are the biggest investors in Nepal, accounting for about 40% of total approved foreign direct investments. There are about 150 operating Indian ventures in Nepal which encompass diverse sectors, including manufacturing,
services (banking, insurance, dry port, education and telecom), power sector and tourism industries. Top Indian investors in Nepal, among others, include ITC, Dabur India, Tata Power, Hindustan Unilever, VSNL, TCIL, MTNL, State Bank of India, Punjab National
Bank, Life Insurance Corporation of India and Asian Paints.

Joint Commission

Against this backdrop of multi-layered relations, India’s foreign minister will co-chair
the joint commission with her Nepalese counterpart Mahendra Bahadur Pandey in Kathmandu July 26. The importance of the meeting can be gauged from the fact that this will be the first joint commission meeting in 23 years and will encompass five clusters of
issues, including I) Political, security and border issues II) Economic cooperation and infrastructure III) Trade and transit IV)Power and water resources V) Culture, education and media. Signalling the importance of the talks and given a wide array of issues
on the table, the minister will be accompanied by officials from the ministries of external affairs, power, water resources, commerce, road transport, railways, human resources development, Culture. Besides chairing the Joint Commission meeting, the minister
will also call on Nepal’s President Ram Baran Yadav, Prime Minister Sushil Kumar Koirala, and a cross section of the political leadership in Nepal across the entire spectrum.

Given the scope of the joint commission, one can safely say that the entire spectrum of bilateral issues will be discussed at the talks. Issues relating to revision of the 1950 Treaty of Peace and Friendship, which forms the bedrock of the India-Nepal relations,
are expected to figure in the discussions. The treaty is seen as unfair by some sections of the Nepalese political establishment, a charge denied by India, but New Delhi has indicated its willingness to be receptive to concrete suggestions from the Nepalese
side.

Deepening security and counter-terror cooperation is another important priority for India. In this context, the security agencies of the two countries have been proactively cooperating across a wide swathe of areas, including tackling illicit smuggling, arms-trafficking
and fake currency. Given porous borders and reports of militants using the India-Nepal border as a conduit, the security dimension of the relationship is set to bolstered in days to come.

Hydropower: Co-creating prosperity

Most important, the focus will be on fructifying the potential of hydropower cooperation, which has remained
untapped largely due to differing perceptions. At the talks, India is hoping to clinch a new power agreement that open new vistas of win-win opportunities in this sector. If the deal goes through, it could prove to be a game-changer for Nepal’s chronic power
woes, and India, too, will get surplus electricity as part of the bargain. Nepal, according to experts, have 40,000 MW of hydel power that has been found to be technically and financially viable. The total hydel potential is estimated to be 80,000 MW. If Nepal’s
hydropower potential is harnessed optimally, it has the potential to become the richest country in South Asia.
Development Partnership

An MoU signed between E/I, Kathmandu, District Development Committee, Morang and Shree Janata
Secondary School for providing Indian grant assistance of NRs. 40 million for the construction of a double storied school buildingAnother important area that will be emphasised in the talks will be widening the scope of development partnership.
India has underlined its commitment many a time to inclusive development of the Himalayan state and has already extended two lines of credit (LoC) of USD 100 million and USD 250 million, to the government of Nepal.

The development partnership spans a wide arc, with India building highways, bridges, optical fibre links, medical colleges, trauma centres, polytechnics, schools, hospitals and health centres. For river training and embankment construction, the Indian government
has been generous with funds and expertise for strengthening and extension of embankments along Lalbakeya, Bagmati and Kamla rivers. Besides, there is a second EXIM Bank Line of Credit for $250 million and another $125 million for the power transmission line
upgrades. Around 450 Small Development Projects being undertaken in various Districts of Nepal have done a world of good to ordinary Nepalese people. "There are remarkable success stories of some of these projects. When we started the Goitre Project,that was
to rid Nepal of goitre. In 1985 the incidence of goitre in Nepal was approximately 44 per cent. In 2007 when we completed that project, it came down to 0.4 per cent,” says Syed Akbaruddin, the spokesperson of India’s foreign office. In the area of training,
3,000 Nepalese are provided scholarships by India annually.
New Horizons

The meeting of joint commission is happening amid the flux in Nepal’s political landscape, with the constitution-making process getting a new lease. India has maintained a well-thought out policy of keeping away from internal affairs of Nepal, but in the spirit
of friendship has consistently advocated an inclusive political process to establish durable peace and stability in the Himalayan state, which is navigating its journey towards modernity and national renewal on its own terms. In his meeting with Prime Minister
Koirala in Delhi May 27, Prime Minister Narendra Modi glowingly described as "an old and deeply valued friend” and conveyed his sincere hope that the Constitution would be adopted in the one-year time-frame that Nepal had set for itself.”

The July 25-27 visit by India’s foreign minister is, therefore, bristling with rich possibilities and could set the stage for a substantive visit by India’s Prime Minister Modi to Kathmandu soon. The prime ministerial visit, when it happens, could be a defining
moment in pitching the India-Nepal relation onto a higher trajectory and open up numerous new vistas of multifarious win-win opportunities, bringing the two neighbours closer in web of co-prosperity.

(Manish Chand is Editor-in-Chief of India Writes Network,
www.indiawrites.org, a portal and e-journal focused on international affairs and the India Story)
- The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author.

In this part of the world, myths intersect with history, and magic blends with realism. Think of Latin America, and it conjures up vibrant images of a spinning carnival of life: soccer, samba and story-telling. Yes, Latin America is all of these, and much else.
It’s an emerging growth pole of the world.

And the good news is that it’s time for Latin America in India’s diplomacy. When India’s newly-elected Prime
Minister Narendra Modi heads to Brazil July 15-16 for the sixth BRICS summit, he will probably become the first Indian leader to meet the leaders of a dozen South American countries at one place. The meeting, to be held as part of the BRICS’ outreach to South
America, looks set to open new windows of engagement and opportunities between Asia’s third largest economy and a resource-rich vibrant region that is rapidly emerging as an economic dynamo and a growth pole in the world.

Brazil’s President Dilma Roussef, the host of the sixth BRICS summit, has invited the leaders of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Surinam, Uruguay and Venezuela. Most of them are reported to have accepted the invitation,
and if all goes well, Prime Minister Modi is set to meet them in Brasilia, a day after the first leg of the summit in Fortaleza.

Why Latin America Matters

The meeting, which is taking place barely within a couple of months of Mr Modi taking charge of the world’s most noisy and vibrant democracy, is set to fire the imagination of a business-friendly prime minister who is looking to raise India’s global profile
and expand the country’s footprints with the region which boasts a combined GDP of $4.9 trillion and is home to 600 million inhabitants, nearly half the population of India, but with a landmass five times that of India. The region’s economic resurgence is
an unfolding story, which has made it a powerful magnet for foreign investment from near and far. Latin America, according to a report by Economic Commission for Latin America and Caribbean of the United Nations, netted 179 billion dollars of FDI in 2013,
the highest record for any region in the world.

Business with Latin America

[In Pic: Vice President at the launch of INCHAM in Lima Peru (Oct 28, 2013)]The
economic dynamism of the region is being bolstered by many factors that includes growing political stability, increasing democratisation, the rise of an entrepreneurial class and the youth bulge, with the under 30s accounting for more than half of the population
of South America. In a fundamental sense, the economic resurgence of India and Latin America are increasingly intersecting, opening new vistas for business and collaboration cutting across a spectrum of areas. Not surprisingly, bilateral trade between India
and Latin America has surged from a few hundred million dollars in the 1990s to 42 billion USD in 2013. Experts say this figure could easily go up to $100 billion if the leaders of both sides blend proactive diplomacy, address issues like enhancing connectivity
and leverage multifarious win-win opportunities in a host of areas, including energy, agriculture, food processing, textiles, transport and IT.

The annual India-Latin America business conclaves organised by the CII and FICCI have crystallised
into must-attend platforms to connect business leaders and entrepreneurs of both sides. In this context, R. Vishwanathan, a former Indian ambassador to Argentina and Latin America enthusiast, suggests that India should sign free trade agreements (FTAs) with
Mexico, Colombia and Peru —- the second, third and fourth largest destinations of India’s exports in Latin America. "India must also deepen and widen the preferential trade agreements (PTAs) with Chile and Mercosur countries including Brazil—the largest destination
of India’s exports in the region,” he suggests. "There are enormous opportunities. Virtually, the sky’s the limit,” says Amitava Tripathi, a former ambassador of India to Brazil.

Food & Energy Security

Food security is another powerful factor that’s driving India to deepen its engagement with the Latin America region, which has vast swathes of fertile land. Brazil, for example, is an agriculture superpower with not just rolling acres of arable land, but is
also equipped with cutting edge food storage technologies. Argentina, too, is a leader in agricultural research. The two sides are poised to set up more joint ventures and research collaborations in this area in days to come.

Latin America has also emerged as an important source of hydrocarbons for India in the last few years, with the region contributing around 10 per cent of India’s energy imports. India is set to step up collaboration with Brazil in the area of eco-friendly ethanol.
Venezuela, Colombia, Mexico and Cuba are some of important suppliers of oil to India in the region.

Cultural Alchemy

It’s not just economics and energy that are binding India and the Latin America region. Thousands of miles apart,
but kindred in spirit, the region is suffused with a deep love for Indian culture, the arts, dance and philosophy. "They simply love Indian culture. There are more yoga centres in Brazil than in India,” says Hardeep Singh Puri, India’s former ambassador to
Brazil.

Strategic Orientation

The India-Latin America relations are increasingly acquiring strategic orientation. Building upon New Delhi’s maiden dialogue with a troika of foreign ministers of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) in July 2012, the two sides are
exploring possibilities of forging an India-Latin America and Caribbean Dialogue Mechanism similar to that of the India-Africa Forum Summit that started in 2008. The region is also critical to multilateral diplomacy and the quest for reforming the global governance
architecture, including the reform and expansion of the UN Security Council.

Bonding with Latin America

In the increasingly globally connected world, there is no far-off place. Distances don’t matter when it comes to love, diplomacy or business. Metaphorical flourishes are fine, but it will certainly help if the two sides work proactively on expanding air links
between India and leading cities in Latin America. With some tangible steps and inspired diplomacy, Buenos Aires can bond more effectively with Bangalore, Caracas can connect with Chennai, Mumbai can relate to Montevideo and Goa communes with Georgetown. Latin
America, a region often described as the last frontier for India’s diplomacy, is open for greater business with India, and India should seize the opportunity with both hands. It’s time to tango, and make things happen.
(Manish Chand is Editor-in-Chief of India Writes Network, www.indiawrites.org, a portal and e-magazine focused on international affairs, emerging powers and the India Story).

International recognition of India’s cultural and civilisational heritage received a new impetus with the recognition
of the 11th century stepwell, Rani-ki-Vav at the 38th Session of the World Heritage Committee Meeting in Doha, Qatar, this month. India was represented by important delegation led by Secretary [Culture] that included our Ambassador/Permanent Representative
to UNESCO, Ruchira Khamboj. The Committee acknowledged that it was "an exceptional example of technological development” in utilising ground water resources and an unique water management system which illustrates "the exceptional capacity to break large spaces
into smaller volumes following ideal aesthetic proportions”. Situated in Gujarat, the property had been buried under layers of silt for almost seven centuries after the disappearance of the Saraswati river. Its excavation demonstrated an exceptional state
of conservation with seven floors of ornamental panels representing the height of the Maru-Gurjara style.

Ancient systems of water conservation have been singled out by the World Heritage Committee as excellent examples
of water harvesting in dry and arid areas which can be effectively utilised with community management and public participation in a world facing severe water shortages. Rani-ki-Vav is the 31st World Heritage Site in India and represent an unique kind of Indian
subterranean architectural structure, marking the zenith in the evolution of such stepwells in India.

Potential new Indian World Heritage Sites : Project Mausam

As an active member of the prestigious World Heritage Committee which oversees the conservation and protection
of world heritage sites globally, India has been working in close cooperation with UNESCO and the international Advisory Bodies including ICOMOS [International Council on Monument and Sites], IUCN [International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural
Resources] and ICCROM [International Centre for the Study of Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Properties]. There is however an imbalance between recognition of our cultural site and natural sites, since of the 31 World Heritage Properties in India,
25 are Cultural Properties and 6 are Natural Properties.

The World Heritage Convention is gradually shifting its focus from Cultural Monuments to Cultural Landscapes, Cultural Routes and Creative Industries. Perhaps for this reason but also because of the enormous scope of India’s natural heritage and cultural landscapes,
India launched to an international and enthusiastic audience at the recent Session of the World Heritage Committee at Doha Project Mausam. If accepted, this would be a maritime cultural landscape across the Indian Ocean as a trans-national property on the
World Heritage list of UNESCO. Project Mausam, would endeavour to position itself at two levels : at the macro level where it would reconnect and re-establish communications between countries of the Indian Ocean, leading to an enhanced understanding of cultural
values and concerns; while at the micro level, the focus would be to understand national cultures in their regional maritime milieu,. Thus, Project Mausam would link cultural route and maritime landscape across the Indian Ocean and also connect the coastal
centres to their hinterland. It would thus contribute to the dissemination of culture and civilisation across the Indian Ocean.

"Mausam” which is the Arabic for "Mawsin” refers to the season in ancient times when ships could sail safely. This distinctive wind system of the Indian Ocean region follows a regular pattern : South West from May to September and North East from November to
March. This regular pattern which later became monsoon winds, facilitated the movement of people, goods and ideas across the Indian Ocean enabling multi-cultural and multi-ethnic interaction and exchange. Of particular interest is that the knowledge and manipulation
of the monsoon wind impacted ancient and historical trades, local economies, politics and cultural identities. Present day national identities and perceptions of our past are deeply interwoven with these age old ties.

Thus Project Mausam Is an exciting, multi disciplinary trans-national project that tries to rekindle long lost ties across the Indian Ocean Littoral and forges new avenues of cooperation and exchange between India and states of the Indian Ocean. Launched by
India in partnership with Member States, Mausam will enable a significant step in recording and commemorating this important phase of world history from the African, Arab and Asian world perceptive.

Spice Route Project

From ancient times, as early as the 3rd milleneum BC, fishermen, sailors and merchants travelled the waters
of the Indian Ocean linking the world’s earliest civilisation from Africa to East Asia in a complex web of relationship. The commodities exchanged included gems, metals, medicines and most importantly spices. In fact spices have often been cited as raison
d’etre for the Dutch, the French, the Portuguese and the English to sail to the Coromondal coast of Southern India in search of these valued condiments, essential for preservation and flavouring of food and also used in ritual practices. For this reason, this
coast line became known as the Spice Coast.

An important initiative of the State Government of Kerala, supported by the Government of India is the ongoing effort to revive the two millennia Spice Route. Besides re-establishing Kerala’s maritime trade relations with 31 countries associated with the ancient
spice route, the project seeks to rekindle interest among modern travellers to this ancient maritime route which was responsible for bringing travellers across the world in ancient times to India. It would result in the revival of cultural, historical and
archeogocial exchanges and would also boost tourism across Southern India but particularly in Kerala. Already, this project has attracted the attention of International Advisory Bodies cited earlier, as well as of those Governments which had historic ties
with the Spice Route such as Netherland, France and United Kingdom.

Thus, taken in the context of the Project Mausam, India is attempting to redefine world heritage to highlight an Asian perspective in UNESCO. Mausam will encourage State Parties associated with the Indian Ocean to interconnect new interpretations of cultural
landscapes and world heritage. It will provide an important platform for the promotion of UNESCO’s activities and underline the importance of trans-national nominations in our quest for global recognition of the need to nurture world heritage globally.

Concluding Reflections

Among the themes to be explored under this project would be, inter-alia, the transformation of Coastal Architecture as a Cultural Landscape from the 3rd millennium BC to the colonial period; Underwater Cultural Heritage; Maritime Museums with their linkages
with Museum Network; the world of the sailing ship and ancient ship building yards; and the spice route project and cultural products linked to it, quite apart from the intangible cultural heritage and oral traditions that this project would preserve. The
Oral Tradition and Literary Writings conceptualing the Indian Ocean would also be added to UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register. UNESCO is looking forward to the early development of this exciting and unique trans-national project brought by India to the
World Heritage Committee this year. Our Permanent Delegation to UNESCO is coordinating these efforts. Other important trans-national nominations would include the International Indentured Route Project, the Silk Route and Inscription of Chandigarh as the jewel
of Curbussier’s architecture.

[The author, a former diplomat was Permanent Representative of India to UNESCO
(2004-2010). This article has been written exclusively for ‘In Focus” section of Ministry of External Affairs website,www.mea.gov.in]
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MEA2360123577BRICS by brick: Re-crafting a new global orderBy Manish Chand

They are the bricks of an emerging new world order. And building it anew, brick-by-brick. Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – the five leading emerging powers straddling the continents of Asia, Africa and Latin America – are steadily and incrementally
rewriting the rules of global engagement and pooling in their collective economic and diplomatic weight to recast the international landscape.

The term BRIC was first used in 2001 by international investor firm Goldman Sachs in their Global Economics Paper No. 66, "The World Needs Better Economic BRICs" to denote the four emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC). What started as
a new pole of opportunity for global investors looking to plough their money in emerging markets has now morphed into a formidable multilateral grouping marked by a striking convergence of interests on a range of global issues. The grouping is animated driven
by an overarching ambition of creating a new world order that reflects the tectonic shift of power from the north to the south and the west to the east.

New cycle, new horizons

Born in the aftermath of the global financial crisis, the first summit of the leaders of BRIC countries was held in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg in June 2009. Since then, another four summits have been held: Brasilia hosted the 2nd BRICS summit in 2010,
followed by Sanya in China in 2011, New Delhi in 2012 and Durban in 2013. A new cycle of BRICS summits is beginning as Brazil hosts the 6th summit in the picturesque beach city of Fortaleza July 14-16. Fittingly, the sixth summit is themed "Inclusive Growth:
Sustainable Solutions".

Leaders of the BRICS countries at the fifth BRICs Summit (2013) held in Durban, South
Africa.At the sixth summit, the leaders of the BRICS countries will be looking to review of substantive achievements in the last few years as well as to map the road ahead to reinvigorate the grouping and cement its status as a powerful voice
and a counterpoint to the West-dictated narrative on global affairs. India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi is poised to attend his first BRICS summit and his first visit outside South Asia that will not only provide him an opportunity to enrich the BRICS agenda,
but to also meet the leaders of BRICS countries as well as the leaders of many South American countries invited to the summit for bilateral talks.

Banking on BRICS: New Development Bank

India has been a proactive player in shaping the BRICS agenda since the idea germinated over a decade ago and the summit process started in 2009. India’s prime minister has represented the country at all the five summits held so far. The 6th summit will see
the fruition of an idea which was floated by India in 2012 – the visionary project of a multilateral bank of the developing world, managed and driven by the BRICS, and in sync with the burgeoning needs of the developing world for infrastructure finance and
sustainable development. The last two summits in New Delhi and Durban has now paved the stage for a formal launch of the BRICS Bank at the Fortaleza summit July 15-16. The broad architecture of the bank is almost complete, and once it starts lending around
2012, it is poised to be a game-changer in not only remapping rules of multilateral financing, which have been set by the Bretton Woods system, but also in spurring the restructuring of the global financial governance architecture that remains heavily tilted
in favour of the West and the Washington consensus. While the modalities of the Bank are being firmed up, there is a broad consensus that equity should be the cardinal principle governing capitalization, which entails all BRICS countries having equal shares
of US$ 10 billion each. The bank is, therefore, expected to have an initial subscribed capital of US$ 50 billion. The authorized capital is likely to be $ 100 billion. The other key facets of the bank, including the nomenclature, the headquarters and the presidency
of the bank, remain to be decided and the picture will only be clear at the Fortaleza summit.

Leaders of the BRICS countries at the fourth BRICs Summit (2012) held in New Delhi, India.
The sixth summit is also expected to see a formal announcement of a contingency reserve fund (CRA) of $100 billion, which will act as a bulwark for the five emerging economies by providing them with a fall-back option to deal with short-term volatility in
their capital flows. According to an understanding firmed up at the meeting of the leaders of BRICS countries on the sidelines of the G20 summit in St. Petersburg in September 2013, China will contribute $41 billion, while Brazil, Russia and India will chip
in with $18 billion each. South Africa, the smallest economy in the grouping, will commit $5 billion to the CRF.

Business of BRICS

The business of diplomacy is becoming increasingly business, and the BRICS is no exception. Building on complementarities and synergies among the five countries, intra-BRICS trade has burgeoned to $230 billion, and the leaders are confident of scaling it up
to $500 billion. The fifth summit in Durban, South Africa, saw the launch of the BRICS Business Council, which comprises five top business leaders from each BRICS member. The business council has been mandated to enhance the arc of prosperity across the BRICS
countries and the larger developing world.

The cover Leaders of the BRICS countries at the third BRICs Summit (2011) held in Sanya,
China.Strategic Calculus

Over the last few years, the grouping has acquired a pronounced strategic character, with the five countries forging joint positions on burning global issues of the day, ranging from the Iran nuclear issue and the unfolding humanitarian catastrophe in Syria
to the increasing anarchy in Mali and West Africa. In this context, the annual meeting of national security advisers of BRICS countries has proved to be a useful platform for formulating common positions on a wide array of security challenges and global issues.
The areas, among other things, which have been identified for intra-BRICS cooperation include counter-terrorism, maritime security and cyber security. This year, at the Fortaleza summit, the festering sectarian divide in Iraq, the febrile situation in Syria
and the crisis in Ukraine are among important issues that will demand diplomatic attention of the leaders.

Besides economic and strategic dimensions of the grouping, the BRICS has also developed an elaborate framework of multi-layered interactions encompassing more than 20 areas that directly or indirectly impact the lives of over 3 billion people living in BRICS
countries. Intra-BRICS cooperation has steadily expanded to include education, health, disaster management, urbanization, science and technology and forging innovation partnerships. The BRICS ministers and officials dealing with these areas meet regularly
to keep the BRICS edifice humming with new ideas and initiatives.

Why BRICS Matter: The Power of 5

In the scrambled alphabet of global geopolitics, the acronym BRICS has a special character and weight as the five countries comprise 20 per cent of global GDP amounting to $24 trillion at PPP, 40 per cent of the world’s population and 1/4th of the world’s landmass.
The BRICS is a unique grouping in so far as it’s not a geography-bound grouping like the EU or the ASEAN; or a commodity-based club, like the OPEC, or a security-based alliance such as the NATO. What provides mortar to cement the grouping is the joint strategic
will of BRICS countries to reconfigure the world order and engage the world in search of inclusive growth and sustainable solutions, which form the master-theme of the sixth summit in Fortaleza.

Sceptics have tended to snigger and dismiss the grouping as another glorified talk shop and gloom-and-doom peddlers never tire of pointing out the declining curve of most BRICS economies. But that’s a distorted picture. True, the growth has declined in some
countries, but most BRICS economies are still growing at a reasonable rate when wide swathes of the developing world are still stuck in deep stagnation. The reform of global governance institutions remains the driving force of the BRICS, which consists of
two permanent members of the UNSC (China and Russia) and three aspiring members (India, South Africa and Brazil) for the prized seat. And one can expect the BRICS leaders to make a renewed collective pitch for building the critical mass required to step up
the long-overdue reforms and expansion of the UN Security Council. Poets have spoken eloquently about refashioning the world closer to the heart’s desire; and it is now for statesmen and leaders of BRICS countries to give a more concrete form to the poetic
fancy to remap the semantics of global geopolitics and craft a more democratic world order. If the BRICS succeed in it, they would more than justify their name.

(Manish Chand is Editor-in-Chief of India Writes Network, www.indiawrites.org, a portal and e-magazine focused on international affairs, emerging powers and the India Story).

India’s modern ties with Iraq commenced with war when, during the First World War, Indian troops marched across Mesopotamia and, after some bitter fighting against Ottoman forces, were able to establish British rule in Baghdad. Every major town in southern
Iraq hosts the remains of Indian soldiers, with graves for Muslims and commemorative plaques for Hindus. While British authority was established in the newly established state of Iraq, day to day matters were largely managed from India, with Indians making
a major contribution in different areas of national development.

These close ties with India were further consolidated with the Republican revolution in 1958 that ended the monarchy, and the subsequent Baathist revolution ten years later. As Iraq took up large-scale national development from the early 1970s, unlike other
oil-rich countries, the Iraqi government awarded a large number of contracts to Indian companies so that, by the end of the 1970s, Indian companies had won over 50 projects, covering areas such as water supply and sewerage schemes; roads, bridges and flyovers;
technical and business management education; railways, and prestigious construction projects such as the Council of Ministers building. Uniquely in the region, India also provided defence training, with a senior army team located in the country’s national
defence college in Baghdad, and Indian Air Force teams providing flight training at all the major Iraqi bases.

This trend of awarding major projects to Indian companies continued through the 1980s in spite of the Iran-Iraq
war. At its peak, the Indian community in Iraq, almost entirely made up of engineers, labour and technicians working for Indian and other projects, numbered around 50,000. Indians also played an important role as experts in almost every government department,
particularly in the petroleum, railways, finance, planning and civil construction institutions.

The bilateral relationship was adversely affected from 1990 onwards by Iraq’s occupation of Kuwait, the subsequent Gulf war and the enforcement of the sanctions-inspections regime. However, Indian firms again rose to the occasion when the oil-for-food programme
was initiated, actively meeting Iraq’s urgent needs for foodstuffs, educational materials, computers, medicines and medical instruments, which were together valued at over $ one billion in 2002. India also revived its political ties with Iraq with the exchange
of parliamentary delegations and the revival of the joint commission in 1998 – 99.

With the war in 2003, Iraq’s political and economic situation seriously deteriorated as the country’s political and economic infrastructure was destroyed and the country lost the institutions that had held it together. This led to a countrywide insurgency directed
at the occupation forces. Unfortunately, as a result of divide-and-rule policies, widespread sectarian discord was also fomented in the country, with Al Qaeda-affiliated jihadi elements targeting holy shrines and soft targets. A number of warlords also emerged,
who supplemented their resources with ransom from kidnappings.

In this background, in July 2004, Iraq dramatically entered the consciousness of Indians when three Indian drivers, along with three Kenyans and one Egyptian, were kidnapped in Fallujah and held for ransom for nearly six weeks. These drivers were employed by
a Kuwaiti company that had sent them to Iraq in trucks carrying military equipment and supplies for the US forces. The drivers had no passports or visas, were provided no security, and had no-one to guide them to their destination which was the US military
then besieging Fallujah.

The diplomatic team that was sent to Baghdad to negotiate their release learnt to its surprise that as many as 20,000 Indians were working in the country, many of them in various American military camps, the attraction obviously being the high salaries being
paid for duty in war zones. In the context of the kidnapping of the drivers, the government banned the movement of Indians to Iraq for employment, which continued till May 2010.

During the 2004 hostage crisis, India’s 24X7 television news channels orchestrated a powerful campaign that highlighted the parlous plight of the drivers’ family members and the government’s "failure" to protect its nationals. Since Iraq was even then a war
zone and did not encourage the presence of Indian journalists, the Indian media did not know that the diplomats in Baghdad were engaged in continuous dialogue for over a month with an interlocutor representing the kidnappers, engaging with him for several
hours every day. The discussions included, first, a political statement criticizing the US occupation, followed by prolonged discussions on the ransom and the modalities for the handover of the ransom and the release of the drivers. The fact that the kidnappers
could be persuaded to reduce their demand from several million dollars to a more modest sum offered by the Kuwaiti company is a tribute to the Indian team’s negotiating skills and the persuasive abilities of the then ambassador in Kuwait.

This experience, the first of its kind for India in a foreign country, revealed many aspects that have come to characterize such situations. First, it affirmed that the welfare of the Indian community will have to be a paramount consideration for all governments
in Delhi, regardless of the situation prevailing in the country concerned or the circumstances in which the Indians go there to work. Again, any situation in which Indians abroad are in a hostage situation or in any other jeopardy, for the news channels this
will be the prime story till the episode is finally resolved. The Indian media will generally show little restraint or understanding of the complexities and difficulties inherent in the situation, but will insist on direct, immediate and robust action by the
government to rescue the Indians. The situation is likely to be further complicated with opposition politicians fiercely castigating the government for its "inadequate” response to the challenge.

Ten years later, with Indian nationals now entrapped in various Iraqi towns due to the dramatic successes of
the jihadist group, Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), in occupying major Iraqi towns, these aspects are being manifested once again. The media has been relentless in pursuing the story and demanding quick action by government. The government’s response
has in fact been quick and effective: a senior officer has been deployed in Baghdad and help-centres, open 24 hours, have been set up in towns where large numbers of Indians are employed. Again, in a powerful statement, the Indian navy has deployed two vessels
in Gulf waters, while civilian aircraft are on standby for quick evacuation when required. Obviously, it is extremely difficult for the Indian diplomats to obtain direct access to those who are held in towns under ISIS occupation. Indeed, the situation could
worsen if there were to be a direct military confrontation between the ISIS cadres and the Iraqi forces that are being regrouped and prepared for combat.

The situation is not without its ironies. During the hostage crisis of 2004, family members would often weep their hearts out on television, swearing they would never in future let their menfolk go abroad for work. However, within a few months of their rescue,
the drivers were back in Kuwait. When interviewed on TV, the same family members now stated, rather aggressively, that the men had to earn a living for their family members! Something similar is apparent even now, in that, while some workers in insecure areas
in Iraq are anxious to return home, a large majority are keen to stay on. The anxiety of people to seek employment in countries experiencing insurgency is affirmed by the fact that, even when the government’s ban on working in Iraq was in force, hundreds of
people from India would come to the UAE or Kuwait and then take off for Iraq, though they were aware of the government’s ban.

This situation emerges from the fact that, even though 40 years have passed since Indians started migrating to Gulf countries to work, we have just not been able to prevent labour contractors from extracting large sums of money from prospective workers. Thus,
returning the loans taken to pay the contractors while simultaneously remitting money to family members makes it absolutely necessary for workers to stay on in difficult and even dangerous situations. For the Indian government, however, the circumstances which
lead its nationals to seek employment in countries experiencing civil strife have little relevance: when the situation deteriorates, the government has no choice but to deploy all its resources to bring them back safely even when we know that they will rush
back to the same country once the situation eases to some extent.

[The author, a former diplomat, was posted in Iraq in 1977-79, and led the Indian negotiating team to Baghdad
in 2004. This article has been written exclusively for ‘In Focus” section of Ministry of External Affairs website,www.mea.gov.in]
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MEA2354523520Encyclopedia of India-China Cultural ContactsIndia-China relations have expanded significantly in both scope and intensity over the past decade. Both sides have attached great importance to cooperation on a wide range of issues with people-to-people exchanges forming an important aspect of our bilateral
relations. The two sides recognize the importance of expanding such contacts, thereby contributing towards enhanced mutual understanding. With this shared understanding, during the visit of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao to India in December 2010, the leaders
of India and China agreed on a project involving compilation of an Encyclopedia of India-China Cultural Contacts.

The
cover page of Encyclopedia of India-China Cultural ContactsThe work of compilation of the Encyclopedia was undertaken by a Joint Compilation Committee comprising of officials and scholars from both India and China. The Indian side of the Joint
Compilation Committee comprised of Prof. Sabaree Mitra of Jawaharlal Nehru University, Prof. Madhavi Thampi of Delhi University, Prof. Kamal Sheel of Benaras Hindu University and Prof. Arttatrana Nayak, formerly of Visva Bharati University. The Encyclopedia
was released in both English and Chinese versions simultaneously by the Hon’ble Vice Presidents of India and China on June 30, 2014 in Beijing. The Encyclopedia features over 700 entries, encapsulating the rich history of contacts and exchanges between the
two countries in the trade, economic, literary, cultural and philosophical spheres. While the contents of both the Chinese and English versions are the same, the Chinese version was released in a single volume, while the English version is in two volumes.

India and China have a shared history of over two thousand years. Being a seminal contribution to the literature on the cultural contacts between India and China, the publication of the Encyclopedia will not only bring this history into the public domain, making
it easily accessible to people of both the countries, but also provide a much-needed boost to the effort to build popular consciousness of and confidence in our shared cultural experience. It is our expectation that the Encyclopedia will be a dynamic document
that is updated periodically as greater research and studies are undertaken on the civilizational interface between India and China.

It’s time for South Asia and the new government is resolutely pushing ahead with its "neighbours first” policy as India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj heads on her first stand-alone foreign visit to Dhaka June 25-27.

The choice of Bangladesh, a country with whom India shares nearly 4,000-km long border, is significant in many ways and reinforces the primacy of neighbourhood in India’s foreign policy calculus, which was visible from the imaginative gesture of the Modi government
to invite leaders of SAARC countries for the oath-taking ceremony of India’s new prime minister.

On that occasion, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, a well-regarded friend of India, could not make it
to the inauguration due to prior travel engagements, but sent the Speaker of the Bangladesh parliament, Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, to New Delhi. In his brief meeting with the speaker, Prime Minister Modi had underlined shared stakes in each other’s progress
and prosperity and alluded to strong bilateral relations "rooted in shared struggle, history, culture and language.” He also underscored commitment of the "Government of India in maintaining and building upon the momentum that has characterised India-Bangladesh
relations in recent years,” as Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh said in a briefing after the prime minister’s talks with the leaders of SAARC countries May 27.

Now, with India’s foreign minister’s visit, the momentum in India-Bangladesh relations that the prime minister
spoke about looks set to acquire an added force. The primary focus during Ms Swaraj’s trip will be on deepening the India-Bangladesh development partnership, which has emerged as a dominant win-win facet of this multi-layered relationship in the last few years.
India had pledged $1 billion in Lines of Credit, the largest ever one-time bilateral grant India has given to any country, to Bangladesh during the historic visit of Sheikh Hasina to New Delhi in January 2010. The historic trip by Bangladesh’s leader, known
for her unwavering friendship and robust commitment to nurturing ties with India, opened a new chapter in bilateral ties, and was followed by then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s substantive visit to Bangladesh in September 2011. President Pranab Mukherjee’s
visit to Dhaka in 2013 on his first overseas visit after occupying the exalted office further reinforced the tradition of high-level exchanges to replenish and rejuvenate this critical partnership.

Development Partners

Barely four years down the line after the 1 billion LOC was unveiled, a substantial portion has already been used on a host of infrastructure projects, including railway infrastructure, supply of broad gauge microprocessor-based locomotives and passenger coaches,
procurement of buses and dredgers. Of the US$ 1 billion LOC, US$ 200 million was converted into a grant out of which $150 million has already been released to Bangladesh. Bangladesh has decided to us the grant money for the ambitious Padma bridge project.
Another important aspect of the India-Bangladesh developmental partnership is joint collaboration in small development projects. These projects are being funded through Indian grant assistance, not exceeding taka 250 million per project and encompass diverse
areas, including livelihood activity, education, health, or community development. The underlying ethos animating these India-aided development projects is the transformation of the lives of ordinary Bangladeshis, with primary focus on conservation of the
environment, empowerment of women and child welfare. In social sector, the two countries are exploring new avenues of cooperation in environment, health and fisheries.

Enriching Ties

Bilateral trade and investment have been on an upswing, enhancing the constituency of peace and friendship between the two subcontinental neighbours. Trade has surpassed US$ 5 billion per annum, with the duty free access given by India to Bangladesh for all
items except 25. Innovative steps like opening of border markets – two border haats are already operational with a few more coming up along the India-Bangladesh border – has brought people living in border areas in closer economic embrace. Another good news
story is unfolding in the area of investment: Indian companies are betting big on the Bangladesh opportunity with Indian companies like Airtel, CEAT and Marico scaling up investments in Bangladesh. In this context, the signing of the Bilateral Investment Promotion
and Protection agreement was a game-changer of sorts.

Powering Ahead

The power sector also promises to fructify myriad win-win opportunities. Setting an example in the subcontinent, India and Bangladesh have forged inter-grid connectivity for the flow of bulk power from India to Bangladesh. A 400 KV line constructed by Power
Grid Corporation of India Ltd and Power Grid Company of Bangladesh in the Eastern sector–Beharampur in India to Bheramara in Bangladesh with the load capacity of 500 MW has already been established. The leading power companies of the two countries, NTPC Ltd.
of India and Bangladesh Power development Board (BPDB), signed a pact on Aug 30, 2010 to set up a 1320 MW (2x660 MW) coal-based power project using super critical technology. The 50:50 joint venture project is being implemented by Bangladesh-India Friendship
Power Company (Pvt.) Ltd. Renewable energy, with focus on solar, wind and bio energy, is also rapidly emerging as an important area of synergy.

Connectivity

Spurring connectivity between India and Bangladesh and the larger region beyond is poised to get sustained diplomatic attention in days to come. The re-launch of Maitree Express (Friendship Train) in 2008, which revived a 43-year-old rail link, was a milestone
of sorts, and underscored the ongoing drive for greater geographical and economic integration. Bangladesh is critical to promoting greater connectivity to India’s north-eastern states and linking them to Southeast Asia. In this context, Bangladesh had given
the facility to transport through Ashuganj port heavy duty equipment for ONGC Tripura Power Company (OTPC)’s 727 MW gas-based project located at Palatana in Tripura. On humanitarian grounds, Dhaka has also agreed to transportation of foodgrains to Tripura.
India, on its part, has provided 24x7 access across Tin Bigha to Bangladeshi residents in the enclaves of Dahagram and Angarpota. India is also seriously looking at providing 100 MW of power to Bangladesh from the Palatana project as a gesture of gratitude
for facilitating the construction of the Palatana power project.

Strategy and Security

Moving beyond the twinned realms of economy and development, the India-Bangladesh ties are rapidly acquiring a strategic character. In this context, the talks between the foreign ministers of India and Bangladesh this week are expected to explore the contours
of a comprehensive strategic partnership agreement that could upgrade the burgeoning relationship to a new level. The security and counter-terror cooperation has been increasing in the last few years, with the Sheikh Hasina government promptly acting against
anti-India insurgents holed up in the Bangladesh territory, earning much appreciation from New Delhi. India and Bangladesh have signed a clutch of counter-terror pacts and a landmark extradition treaty which reflect greater strategic trust and comfort level
between the two countries. Amid reports of radical Islamist group spreading their tentacles in Bangladesh, the security partnership looks set to grow in months to come.

The Way Ahead

Against this larger canvas of multi-dimensional India-Bangladesh relationship, the three-day visit of Sushma Swaraj
promises to be symbolic as well as substantive. By choosing Dhaka as her first foreign trip, the foreign minister has already sent a compelling signal to deepen and solidify the ongoing transformation in India-Bangladesh relations, which has been enriched
by multi-faceted cultural interactions and the legacies of sage-poets, Rabindranath Tagore and Nazrul Islam. India is seeking to position itself as a reliable partner of Bangladesh in its quest to become an economic dynamo of the region as outlined by Sheikh
Hasina in her Vision 2021 document which seeks to create a middle-income country by 2021, the milestone year that will mark Bangladesh’s 50 years of independence. Dhaka, on its part, will be looking for concrete assurances on New Delhi’s part to go ahead with
the signing of the Teesta river treaty and the ratification of the Land Boundary Agreement – the two pacts whose deferral due to political compulsions has given fodder to critics of India in Bangladesh and has affected the momentum in bilateral ties in the
last few months of the previous Indian government. The Bangladesh political elite is now looking with renewed hope at the new Modi government to free up India-Bangladesh ties from the vagaries of politics and take this multi-hued relationship into a higher
trajectory. And the new dispensation in New Delhi is eager to ensure that the friendship train between the two countries continues on its onward march. In this journey, there are no full stops.

(Manish Chand is Editor-in-Chief of India Writes Network,
www.indiawrites.org, a portal and e-journal focused on international affairs and the India Story).

From the time India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru trekked to the picturesque Paro on yaks in 1958 to transformative developments following Bhutan's embrace of democracy and the first elections in 2008, it’s been a journey of friendship and mutual
empowerment that’s without a parallel in the world.

Why Bhutan?

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi with Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay of Bhutan in New
Delhi An exemplary model of good-neighbourliness and harmonious co-existence, India’s relations with Bhutan are moored in centuries-old cultural links, but have effortlessly kept pace with the changing times, retaining the old and receiving the
new. Not surprisingly, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has chosen Bhutan for his first state visit (June 15-16) to a foreign country after taking charge of the world’s most populous and vibrant democracy. The choice of Bhutan is symbolic in many ways,
and underscores the primacy of immediate neighbourhood in the new government’s foreign policy calculus and signals its strategic intent to take ties with the Himalayan state to greater heights. Besides the obvious diplomatic and strategic importance of Bhutan,
there are many good reasons to visit this unique country which is navigating its transition to modernity at its own pace, but still prefers to measure its wealth in terms of gross national happiness, undistracted by garish seductions of modernity.

Special and exemplary ties

What makes India-Bhutan ties special, unique, time-tested and exemplary? Indeed, it’s a long roster of laudatory adjectives that’s generously used to describe the India-Bhutan relationship, but these are not empty words; they evoke an organic relationship that
is grounded in idealism as well as realism. Idealism, as it’s about fraternal relations – the genuine desire of an elder brother to let the younger brother grow and allow him space to grow. Realism, as the relations are woven in a web of win-win opportunities
as the two countries nourish and reinforce each other’s vital national interests. Above all, the India-Bhutan relations are bound by an alchemy of trust. When the two neighbours trust each other, the possibilities are boundless and the sky is the limit!

Keeping pace with changing times

Not surprisingly, the relations have grown exponentially over the years since the two countries signed the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation in 1949. In tune with the changing times, India seized the initiative to modernize and transform the relations by
revising the original Treaty of Friendship in 2007 that has laid the foundation for the future development of India-Bhutan ties in the 21st century. Adapting to the new realities has kept the relationship dynamic and vibrant, without needless sparks of friction.
When the idyllic picture-perfect Himalayan kingdom decided to embrace democracy, India was quick to share its expertise and experience in bolstering democratic practices and institution-building in that country. India’s Chief Election Officer V.S. Sampath
visited Bhutan to observe elections in that country in July, 2013. Officials of the Bhutanese Parliament have been attending training programmes conducted by the Bureau of Parliamentary Studies and Training (BPST) in the Indian Parliament.

Development Partnership

President Shri Pranab Mukherjee with King of Bhutan Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck at
the Rashtrapati Bhawan, New Delhi The quest for development and national resurgence has provided a powerful impulse to bind the world’s largest and youngest democracies. India remains Bhutan’s largest development partner. Over the years, a large
chunk of India’s developmental assistance in form of loans, grants and lines of credit have been committed to Bhutan. The development partnership spans an entire spectrum. India has funded nearly all of Bhutan's landmark projects, including the airport at
Paro, the Bhutan Broadcasting Station, the Bhutan-India microwave link, 1 million-tonne Dungsum Cement Plant, Bhutan Institute of Medical Sciences, and all exploration, survey and mapping of mineral resources.

India contributes a hefty chunk of financial assistance to Bhutan’s five year plans. The Indian government provided financial assistance worth a little over Rs. 5000 crores (around 900 million USD) for the 10th FYP. Out of this, Rs. 2000 crores was project
tied assistance focused on 70 projects spanning key socio-economic sectors such as agriculture, ICT, media, health/ hospitals, education/schools, capacity building, energy, culture and infrastructure. A cluster of small development projects executed under
the 10th five year plan included, among other things, the construction of the Bhutanese Supreme Court, strengthening of Constitutional Offices such as the Royal Audit Authority, Anti-Corruption Commission and Office of the Attorney General, widening of major
roads, scholarships and expansion of tertiary educational institutions. For the 11th FYP, India has already approved the financial assistance of Rs 4500 cr. In fact, India is the anchorsheet of Bhutan's development.

Hydropower

Hydropower cooperation forms the enduring good news story in India-Bhutan relations. The cascading rivers of Bhutan, with a combined hydropower potential of 35,000 MW, have offered a sturdy bridge to crystallize this unique partnership of co-prosperity, with
power generated in Himalayan mountains and valleys lighting up countless homes and smiles in Bihar, West Bengal and Delhi. The two countries signed a framework inter-governmental agreement on development of joint venture hydropower projects through the public
sector undertakings on April 22, 2014 in Thimphu. India has helped set up the 336MW Chukha hydro project (1986-87), the 60 MW Kurichu (2001-02) and the 1,020MW Tala project (2006-2007). India has pledged to buy 10,000 MW by 2020, making Bhutan perhaps the
only country in South Asia which enjoys trade surplus with New Delhi. Three more HEPs totalling 2940 MW, i.e., the 1200 MW Punatsangchu-I HEP, the 1020 MW Punatsangchu-II HEP and the 720 MW Mangdehchu HEP, are under construction, and are scheduled to be commissioned
by 2018.

Trade Diplomacy

Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh calls on King of Bhutan Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck
in New Delhi Trade and investment are on an upswing, and will acquire an added traction under the new government in Delhi which has made economic diplomacy the centerpiece of its engagement with neighbours as well as the larger world. In 2012,
bilateral trade was estimated to be over Rs 68.3 billion, with Bhutan's exports amounting to Rs. 26.6 billion (including electricity). Under a free trade agreement which will be effective till 2016, Bhutan enjoys duty free transit of Bhutanese merchandise
for trade with third countries too.

Security/Strategy

The strategically-located Bhutan continues to be of special significance to India, especially amid reports of the rapidly growing imprints of a neighbouring Asian country. Trust in the strategic sphere is of paramount importance and India’s leaders have not
forgotten how in 2003, the then the then King Jigme Singye Wangchuck personally led the offensive by the Royal Bhutan Army to cleanse anti-India insurgents from the Bhutanese soil. Against the backdrop of reports about intensifying activities of insurgent
groups along the India-Bhutan border, counter-terror cooperation is bound to gain greater salience in bilateral relations.

The Way Ahead

​The language of friendship shrivels unless it’s spoken more often, and from the heart. In the case of India-Bhutan relations, this language comes easy – the two-way visits are frequent and go off effortlessly without a hitch. In 2012, Bhutan’s young Oxford-educated
monarch and the queen chose India as their first overseas stop after their royal wedding, reflecting fraternal ties between the two countries. Bhutan is perhaps the only country where the grandfather, father and son have been invited separately to be chief
guest at India’s Republic Day celebrations. His Majesty The Third King Jigme Dorji Wangchuck was the Chief Guest during the 1954 Republic Day Celebrations, Later in 1984 and 2005 His Majesty the Fourth King Jigme Singye Wangchuck ( Son of His Majesty the Third
King) was the chief guest and in 2013 His Majesty the Fifth King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck was the chief guest ( Son of His Majesty the Fourth King and grandson of HM the Third King).

The bonding between the people of India and Bhutan is a bonding for life, as Bhutan’s young king has said so memorably. Speaking at a state banquet in his honour on the eve of India‘s Republic Day in 2013, the king’s speech glowed with eloquence: "My bond with
India is for life, for it arises from two loves — my love for India and, my love for Bhutan and my people.” Recalling his grandfather, who was invited as the Republic Day chief guest in 1954, he said: "The destiny of Bhutan is intimately bound with that of
India and it is in our mutual interests to further the bonds of friendship and understanding.” "And, many decades later, in a modernising Bhutan, my father declared, ‘India is the cornerstone of our foreign policy.’ To these profound assertions of intimate
bonds I would like to state, Indo-Bhutan friendship is indispensable for the future success of Bhutan,” he said.

If there is an indispensable partnership, which is not located in the future but in the here and the now, it’s that of India and Bhutan. And with the forthcoming visit of India’s prime minister, this union of hearts and minds that mark the India-Bhutan friendship
is poised to acquire fresh energy and sparkle.

(Manish Chand is Editor-in-Chief of India Writes (www.indiawrites.org), an online magazine and journal focused on international affairs and the India Story. Follow him on twitter@scpeticcryptic).

Amid the frenzy and fever of the world’s most colourful elections, India’s diplomacy is quietly and meaningfully humming along as the country’s foreign secretary and senior diplomats head east, west, north and south, in quest of new opportunities unleashed
by a rapidly globalising world.

From Beijing to Buenos Aires and Tokyo to Tbilisi, India held wide-ranging talks with at least a dozen countries since the mammoth nine-phase elections began April 7. And there is more on the way.

Looking East and West with a 360 degree vision of India’s omnidimensional engagement with the world, India is set to engage varied countries, including the UAE, Oman, Tajikistan, Greece and Finland in the next few days till a new government is formed after
the results of the parliamentary elections are announced May 16.

India’s top diplomat, Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh, is leading the charge, and is ably complemented by the country’s seniormost diplomats, including Dinkar Khullar, secretary (West) in India’s Ministry of External Affairs and Anil Wadhwa, Secretary (East)
in MEA.

Foreign Secretary holds consultations with Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Akitaka Saiki
on bilateral, regional and international issues in TokyoEngaging China, Japan and Russia

Foreign Secretary Singh made two separate trips to China and Japan, where she underlined New Delhi’s commitment to expand economic and strategic engagement with Asia’s leading economies. The fact that New Delhi chose to engage with Beijing and Tokyo within
weeks belied the speculation by some analysts that India was subtly engaged in a balancing game of sorts, playing the two countries, which are often portrayed as rivals, against each other. New Delhi has made it clear many a time that it is not into any containment
game, but is only interested in enlarging India’s developmental options.

In the middle of the world’s largest democratic exercise, India sustained the momentum in bilateral ties with China by participating in a naval exercise and holding a meeting of the joint border mechanism in Beijing. The two emerging Asian powers reinforced
the centrality of maintaining peace and tranquillity on the border as a prerequisite to fostering their multi-faceted bilateral relations. The meeting has buttressed an emerging template for developing India-China relations – keeping border peace and economic
relations going while keeping intractable issues like the boundary dispute for long-haul negotiations.

India’s time-tested special ties with Russia were reaffirmed when Singh travelled to Moscow and reaffirmed the critical importance of Russia in India’s foreign office calculus amid the flux in the global order. Her trip will be followed by a string of two-way
visits, culminating in the state visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to India later this year.

Hola Latin America!

Geographically distant, but kindred in spirit, India has signalled its diplomatic thrust to deepen engagement with Latin America, an emerging economic dynamo which is also home to some of the greatest literary and creative geniuses, who effortlessly criss-cross
magic and realism. Mr Khullar’s trip to Argentina and Guatemala mid-April showed that India’s engagement with Latin America is acquiring heft incrementally, and is poised for a marked upswing and high-profile visits later this year.

With Europe on the cusp of recovery and economic vigour returning to the Eurozone, India is set to sustain and rejuvenate its relations with both eastern and western Europe. Mr Khullar travelled to Bosnia and Herzegovnia (April 22) for wide-ranging talks and
is set to travel to Greece and Finland May 9-14. Senior officials of India and Norway engaged in wide-ranging talks in New Delhi and discussed, among other things, cooperation in renewable energy and jointly fostering innovations. Building bridges between
Asia and the 28-nation EU, India also participated in a meeting of the senior officials of Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) in Brussels April 29.

Looking East, the election period saw a slew of significant interactions and initiatives, with India naming its first full-time envoy to the 10-nation ASEAN. India separately held talks with Vietnam and Cambodia, the Southeast Asian countries that are trying
to script their economic resurgence and carve a place in the region. The economic relations between India and ASEAN are blossoming, with bilateral trade having crossed US $ 75 billion, in 2012-13. Building upon its multi-layered civilizational and economic
linkages with the economically vibrant region, India is now moving towards Phase 2 of its Look East policy, which is called "Enhanced Look East” Policy in diplomatic circles. "We are now engaged in the formulation of an Enhanced Look East Policy for the new
century which fully recognizes the potential of our civilizational outreach, our economic aspirations, our desire for integration and our shared values and objectives,” says Mr Wadhwa.

The Way Ahead: Emerging Opportunities

The multi-pronged diplomatic interactions during the election period spanning a wide arc of the globe have, therefore, set the stage for an ambitious agenda for diplomatic engagement for the next government in Delhi. By and large, the next dispensation in New
Delhi is expected to continue the across-the-party consensus on foreign policy, with a dash of its own style and minor improvisations to suit the changing times. This unwritten national consensus on foreign policy comprises the primacy of strategic autonomy,
good relations with neighbouring countries and extended neighbourhood, robust economic diplomacy to maximise gains from globalisation, creating a multi-polar world through constructive engagement with major powers and emerging powers, promoting a rule-based
international border, and the democratisation of global governance institutions.

Amid speculation about changes in India’s foreign policy postures and positions
under the next government, the country’s foreign secretary underscored fundamental principles underpinning India’s foreign policy, which are set to endure regardless of power shifts. In a speech at Russian Diplomatic Academy in Moscow April 17, Mrs Singh alluded
to "the noisy and exuberant carnival of Indian democracy” and underlined that the country’s "foreign policy perspectives have remained fundamentally stable” all these years and will remain so in the future as well. "India’s overall approach to dealing with
an ever-changing world has been and will be consistent – to grasp emerging opportunities, while exercising eternal vigilance against traditional and non-traditional threats,” she said.

If grasping emerging opportunities is the name of the game in the 21st century statecraft, the next government in Delhi should seize the initiative to pursue dynamic and imaginative diplomacy to bolster India’s standing in the international arena, marked by
seismic shifts of power from the west to the rest.

(Manish Chand is Editor-in-Chief of India Writes, www.indiawrites.org, an e-magazine focused on international relations and the India Story)

(The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author)
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MEA2329723262The ITEC Spirit: Sharing the art &amp; skill of elections

By Manish Chand

It’s a journey without frontiers. Thirty people, 19 countries, one common mission: honing in on the art of holding elections and keeping the democratic fire burning.

Away from the exuberant noise of campaigning and rhetorical salvos, in the summer of 2014 the scene on the seventh floor of the imposing building of the Election Commission in Delhi was that of quiet enthusiasm and purposefulness. It was back to classroom for
a group of 30 mid-career polling officials from countries as diverse as Yemen, Ghana, Lebanon, Georgia, Bhutan and Africa’s newest nation South Sudan. And they were earnestly trying to unscramble how India, the world’s most populous democracy, organises free,
fair and credible elections.

An initiative of the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation Programme
(ITEC), India’s signature programme for capacity building and training for kindred developing countries in the spirit of South-South solidarity, the electoral training programme, since its launch in the summer of 2012, has trained 90 mid-career polling officials
from over 40 countries for the past three years. The training is conducted by the India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management (IIIDEM), an institute affiliated with the Election Commission, the autonomous constitutional body which conducts
the mammoth elections of India with vigilance, finesse and sophistication.

This year was special for participants as they not only got tutorials in various facets of election management like operating the electronic voting machines and security at polling booths from seasoned EC officials, but they also got the first-hand feel of
the spinning carnival of the parliamentary elections in India, which have been billed as the world’s largest democratic exercise. Besides attending the training course, they also visited Agra, home to the eternal wonder of the Taj Mahal, and Gwalior to see
for themselves how the giant election machine works in India. The two week long "Third Special Course on Election Management” is being held in April even as the election process is in full swing. Like previous years, this time round also, the participants
came from near and far and included countries such as Bhutan, Sri Lanka, the Maldives in India’s immediate neighbourhood; a host of African countries including Ethiopia, Tanzania, Sudan, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Lesotho and Sierra
Leone. Polling officials from countries from Middle East (Lebanon, Yemen, Palestine), Latin America (El Salvador, Georgia) and Central Asia (Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan) also participated in the fortnight-long programme.

The participants at the electoral training programme for polling officials of various
countriesThe training course has been conceptualised to disseminate India’s experience and expertise in holding elections with fellow developing countries, says Dr Noor Mohammad, a consultant with IIIDEM who proactively helped shape the course,
which has become a window into how the Indian democracy works on the ground.

The India Experience

The participant were all praise at how India manages to hold the elections on this scale – with around 500-600 million people, in an electorate of 814.5 million, expected to vote in the 2014 parliamentary elections, which have witnessed a record turn-out. The
appreciation is not rehearsed, but comes straight from the heart. "Indian democracy is outstanding. The elections are so well-organised. The technology used to conduct elections is simply superb and enhances transparency and accountability of the electoral
process,” says Doris Emefa Agbezhulor, Principal Electoral Officer, Election Commission, Ghana, at the end of the two-week course in electoral training. In a similar vein, Julie Tanios of Lebanese National Assembly, who was among 30 participants at this year’s
course in electoral training, is all praise. Says Ms Tanios: "I went to a lot of polling stations in India and was struck at transparency and atmosphere free from pressure. India is an example of democracy for my country, the Arab world and the Middle East.
And I hope we will be able to reach your level of democracy and transparency.”

One of the participants from Ghana at the electoral training programme.The
training course is not a one-way traffic; it has also become a platform for Indian officials to learn how elections are held in other developing countries, the uniqueness of each system and the challenges faced by polling officials in the course of discharging
their duties.

The electoral training course is often the first exposure to the spirit and ethos of India for most participants, who found their first encounter with a mind-bogglingly diverse country as overwhelming, illuminating and liberating. And thanks to ITEC, they forge
lasting friendships and memories of a life time in this country.

The electoral training course has become hugely popular, with India’s Ministry of External Affairs flooded with requests for participation from scores of developing countries. "We are overwhelmed by the response we got,” says Kumar Tuhin, joint secretary in
charge of ITEC. "The capacity building and training courses are conducted within the framework of South-South cooperation and forms the basis of ITEC,” he says.

ITEC Spirit of Sharing

Transformation and self-fashioning is the animating mantra of the ITEC that hinges on capacity building and skills transfer to hundreds of thousands of students, professionals, and mid-career diplomats and officials in 160 countries across continents, including
Africa, Asia, Latin America and East and Central Europe.

An embodiment of India’s unstinting commitment to South-South cooperation, the ITEC programme has disseminated expertise and shared India’s developmental experience with countries of the developing south. Started as a bilateral programme of assistance of the
Indian government, the ITEC, including its corollary SCAAP (Special Commonwealth Assistance for Africa Programme), has expanded to include some 220-odd courses ranging from IT, textile designing, foreign affairs to commerce, science and media.

The electoral training course is a relatively new initiative under the ITEC, but it perfectly epitomises India’s development-centric diplomacy and outreach to fraternal countries of the global south, which is rapidly emerging as a hub of innovation, enterprise
and can-do spirit. Above all, it’s an exemplar of the ITEC spirit of sharing, learning and empowering fellow human beings through ideas and knowledge. And this spirit will shine in resplendent celebrations as the ITEC turns 50 this year. The golden jubilee
anniversary of the ITEC will not only be celebrated in India, but in a wide swathe of the developing world from Kabul to Kinshsha, Thimphu to Tbilisi and Colombo to Congo.

(Manish Chand is Editor-in-Chief of India Writes, www.indiawrites.org, an online journal and magazine focused on international affairs and the India Story).

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MEA2326223251Recognition of India`s world heritage: Inscription of our sites on the World Heritage listby Ambassador Bhaswati Mukherjee*

Background:

India’s cultural and civilisational heritage is reflected in the World Heritage List of the World Heritage Committee but in an incomplete manner. There has been a greater emphasis on cultural sites while natural and mixed sites have not been fully reflected.
This is a phenomenon in many parts of the world including in old Europe, where cultural heritage overwhelmingly dominates recognition of Europe’s great cultural heritage on the World Heritage List. Natural heritage, whether in India or in Europe, is inadequately
represented.

Taj Mahal Perhaps the reason for this imbalance lies in the
process of nomination and inscription, painstakingly elaborated in the Operational Guidelines of the World Heritage Convention. Perhaps it is also because tangible heritage, as represented in magnificent monuments and buildings such as the Taj Mahal are much
easier to justify in accordance with the guidelines for inscription, as opposed to natural and mixed sites. I would give an example later, but let us first examine the Convention and the inscription process.

World Heritage Convention:

The Convention adopted in 1972 has proved to be a remarkably visionary instrument for safeguarding the world’s heritage. It has been dubbed as the flagship programme of UNESCO and has set the standard for conventions, instruments and programmes for conservation.
Its Secretariat, known as the World Heritage Centre, is headed by an eminent Indian from the Indian Forest Service of 1976 batch, Shri Kishore Rao, who is also an expert on natural heritage.

konark sun temple Today, the World Heritage map has come to
cover the globe. It has helped to recognize and protect properties whose exceptional universal value would make their disappearance and an irreparable loss, not only for the country concerned but for humanity itself. Perhaps, the greatest achievement of the
Convention is that it has deepened public awareness of the need to protect and nurture this precious international legacy of the world. For if heritage attests to our common history, its preservation demonstrate our concern for our environment and our commitment
to our collective future.

Operational Guidelines leading to inscription of Properties on the World Heritage List:

The preparation of the nomination dossier is central to the process of inscription. According to existing rules of business, it is the Archaeological Survey of India headed by its Director General with overall supervision by Secretary (Culture) that spearheads
the process in India including the politically sensitive process of selection from the vast number of sites in India which all deserve inscription. The Indian Ambassador/PR to UNESCO plays the role of adviser in the process and later as India’s member on the
World Heritage Committee, plays a crucial role in the intricate and, unfortunately, highly political process of background negotiations within the Committee, leading to inscription. I would give a few examples later, according to my experience as India’s Ambassador
to UNESCO and India’s representative on the World Heritage Committee from September 04 to June 10.

Mountain Railways of India Before States Parties begin to prepare
a nomination of a property for inscription on the World Heritage List, they should become familiar with the nomination cycle. It is desirable to carry out initial preparatory work to establish that a property has the potential to justify Outstanding Universal
Value, including integrity or authenticity, before the development of a full nomination dossier.

States Parties are encouraged to prepare nominations with the participation of a wide variety of stakeholders, including site managers, local and regional governments, local communities, NGOs and other interested parties.

States Parties are strongly encouraged to transmit to the Secretariat by 30 September of the preceding year (see paragraph 168) the draft nominations that they wish to submit by the 1 February deadline. This submission of a draft nomination should include maps
showing the boundaries for the proposed site.

Sanchi Nominations may be submitted at any time during the year,
but only those nominations that are "complete" and received by the Secretariat on or before 1 February3 will be considered for inscription on the World Heritage List by the World Heritage Committee during the following year. Only nominations of properties
included in the State Party's Tentative List will be examined by the Committee Nominations of properties for inscription on the World Heritage List should be prepared in accordance with the format.

The format includes the following sections:

Identification of the Property

Description of the Property

Justification for Inscription

State of conservation and factors affecting the property

Protection and Management

Monitoring

Documentation

Contact Information of responsible authorities

Signature on behalf of the State Party(ies)

For a nomination to be considered as complete, the following requirements may be noted:

Identification of the Property

The boundaries of the property being proposed should be clearly defined, unambiguously distinguishing between the nominated property and any buffer zone.

Description of the Property

The Description of the property should include the identification of the property, and an overview of its history and development.

Justification for Inscription
This section should indicate the World Heritage criteria under which the property is proposed, together with a clearly stated argument for the use of each criterion. Based on the criteria, a proposed Statement of Outstanding Universal Value of the property
prepared by the State Party should make clear why the property is considered to merit inscription on the World Heritage List. A comparative analysis of the property in relation to similar properties, whether or not on the World Heritage List, both at the national
and international levels, should also be provided. The comparative analysis should explain the importance of the nominated property in its national and international context. Statements of integrity and/or authenticity should be included.

State of conservation and factors affecting the property

This section should include accurate information on the present state of conservation of the property (including information on its physical condition of the property and conservation measures in place). It should also include a description of the factors affecting
the property(including threats).

Requirements for the nomination of different types of properties:

Transboundary properties

A nominated property may occur:

a) on the territory of a single State Party, or

b) on the territory of all concerned States Parties having adjacent borders (transboundary property).

Serial properties

Serial properties will include two or more component parts related by clearly defined links:

a) Component parts should reflect cultural, social or functional links over time that provide, where relevant, landscape, ecological, evolutionary or habitat connectivity.

b) Each component part should contribute to the Outstanding Universal Value of the property as a whole.

A serial nominated property may occur:

a) on the territory of a single State Party (serial national property); or

b) within the territory of different States Parties, which need not be contiguous and is nominated with the consent of all States Parties concerned (serial transnational property)

Evaluation of nominations by the Advisory Bodies

The Advisory Bodies will evaluate whether or not properties nominated by States Parties have Outstanding Universal Value, meet the conditions of integrity and/or authenticity and meet the requirements of protection and management.

Evaluations of cultural heritage nominations will be carried out by ICOMOS.

Evaluations of natural heritage nominations will be carried out by IUCN.

In the case of nominations of cultural properties in the category of 'cultural landscapes', as appropriate, the evaluation will be carried out by ICOMOS in consultation with IUCN. For mixed properties, the evaluation will be carried out jointly by ICOMOS and
IUCN.

Evaluation and Conclusion:

The above demonstrates that inscription on the World Heritage List is a time-bound process that should respect the procedures elaborated in the Operational Guidelines, from the inscription on the Tentative List, to the preparation of the "nomination dossier”,
to active lobbying of other members of the Committee regarding the merits of the site proposed, to the interaction and engagement with the concerned Advisory Body, whether ICOMOS or IUCN, to the actual presentation of the case before the Committee. Sometimes,
a nomination can fail because of a cultural divide within members of the Committee or because of a one-sided presentation by the Advisory Body concerned. I recall that in the case of Majuli Island, on the Brahmaputra river in Assam, an Island larger than Belgium,
despite our best efforts to present our dossier as an outstanding cultural landscape symbolising India’s Shivate heritage, the representative of the Advisory Body concerned only focussed on climate change issues arguing that Majuli Islands’ Outstanding Universal
Value would diminish because of the changing course of the Brahmaputra river. There was little understanding of the cultural issues at stake, and of the impact of its inscription, the first in Assam, on its future existence and conservation. Ultimately, as
is unfortunately the case often in the Committee, it became the victim of a highly political vote with Western countries voting against India. We lost by a narrow margin. (Reference WHC Meeting in Quebec, Canada)

Ajanta Caves An example, however, where we were able to prevail
despite the adverse report by the Advisory Body was the historic Apravasi Ghat in Mauritius, which traces the indentured route from India to Mauritius. Although the representative of the Advisory Body tried to argue that there was no indentured route and that
these Indians were seeking a better future through immigration, India was able to make the case along with Mauritius to Committee members that indentured labour’s passage to Apravasi Ghat could not be compared with modern immigration as we understand it and
that its OUV was intact and represented a significant historic memory to the World, similar to the Slave Route. Despite the protest by the Advisory Body, this site was inscribed by acclamation representing a great victory for India and Mauritius.

(Reference WHC Meeting in Vilnius, Lithuania).

Mahabodhi Temple at Bodhgaya Let me conclude by underlining
the importance of understanding the process of inscription and to prevail upon the Committee members to accept the merits of our case, if we are of the view that our site has OUV. Swami Vivekanand has said: "Our motherland is awakening from her deep long sleep..
India that is to be, the future India, must be much greater than ancient India.” To demonstrate the greatness of this heritage past and present, we must be fully aware of and master the procedure of nomination, since the process itself is complex, time consuming,
poorly understood and often frustrating.

*(Amb. Bhaswati Mukherjee has served as India's Permanent Representative to UNESCO during 2004-2010)

India is on the move. India is young. India’s literacy rate is rapidly increasing and so is the usage of latest gadgets like the Internet, smart phones, digital media and the social media. All these breathtaking changes are reflected in the ongoing general
elections in India, the humongous dance of democracy in the biggest democratic power on earth involving 814 million voters.

Forget advertisement campaigns through television and print media. Forget car rallies, public meetings, hoardings, banners, corner meetings, ‘padyatras’ (on-foot marches) and door-to-door campaigns. All these are so conventional and anachronistic to young Indian
voters – and thus boring.

This is a new age India. This is the new age general election. Indian Elections
2014 are not only being fought on tarred roads and dusty streets across the length and breadth of the country. Even more interesting battle of the ballot is being waged in cyber space and through an increasingly powerful social media.

The Anna Hazare-Arvind Kejriwal combo had demonstrated to the country and the world the power of social media. The Hazare-led pressure group had effectively milked the social media cow to expand their outreach in their numerous agitations in 2011-12. Virtually
all major political parties took the cue and are now using the Internet, mobile phones and social media in a big way for the first time in the ongoing elections for the 16th Lok Sabha.

Facebook, Twitter, YouTube are being used by political parties, candidates
and their campaign managers to woo the young Indian voters like never before. This is the smart way to reach out to the upwardly mobile Indian youth. And why not, especially when India is a young nation, with 66 percent of the population under 35 and almost
72 million Indians are in the age bracket of 18 to 23? Needless to say, a large percentage of Indian youth is educated and tech-savvy. As many as 93 million Indians are on the Facebook and 33 million are on Twitter.

They use these social media tools not once or twice a day but practically
on second-to-second basis using their mobile phones. Increasing number of young Indians are graduating to smart phones and making full of 3G and 4G technologies. No, this trend is not limited only to youngsters anymore. Even grandpas and grandmas in rural
India are increasingly being seen flaunting their personal mobile phones. After all, India is a country where the number of mobile phone owners exceeds the total number of voters (814 million).

Over 100 million Indians are avid users of social media. These numbers are
growing rapidly. According to GSM Association figures of October 2013, of the nearly 900 million mobile connections in India, there are only 350 million subscribers. Of these, nearly 31 million were 3G subscribers. The number of 4G subscribers was 0.4 million
in 2012. Projections are that as of now there would be at least 100 million 3G and 4G subscribers. Besides, India added 69 million Internet users during 2008-2011 pushing the total number of Internet users by 2011 end to 121 million, with a population penetration
rate of almost ten percent. It is hardly surprising, therefore, that Indian politicians, cutting across the party lines and ideologies, are increasingly taking to the powerful social media to reach out to the voters. They are relying more and more on Facebook
feeds, tweets and YouTube videos to woo the voters.

Consider the Twitter craze among the Indian politicians, for example. Bharatiya
Janata Party’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi has the maximum number of followers on Twitter (3.77 million), followed by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal (1.65 million) and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (1.18 million). There are others
in the million followers club, like Shashi Tharoor of the Congress who has 2.15 million followers. Indian politicians have taken to the Facebook also in a big way. For example, Narendra Modi has 13 million "Likes” (Facebook terminology for fans), followed
by Arvind Kejriwal (5.2 million). Main issues being discussed and debated through various social media platforms pertain to communalism versus secularism, corruption, transparency, development, accountability of political leaders, jobs and economy. With slightly
more than 100 million social media users, it is too early a stage where social media can be a real game-changer in Indian politics. But it can definitely be a major swing factor in at least 160 Lok Sabha constituencies out of a total of 543 as these are the
seats where winning margin has been less than five per cent. Also, it is a little known fact that in a large number of Lok Sabha constituencies, a candidate who has polled just about 30 per cent of the valid votes polled emerges as the winner. There are dozens
of Lok Sabha constituencies where the winning margin is less than 5000 votes, often in three digits and sometimes even in double digits.

Consider these facts brought out by Electoral Reference Handbook released
by the Government of India earlier this month. In as many as 54 out of 543 Lok Sabha seats in the 2009 general election, the victory margin was less than ten thousand votes. Of these, 21 candidates won the last Lok Sabha election with a victory margin ranging
between 5000-10,000 votes, 27 candidates with an even slender victory margin ranging between 1000-5000 votes and six candidates won with a wafer-thin margin of less than one thousand votes. The narrowest victory margin in the last election was a mere 317 votes
and the lucky candidate was Namo Narain Meena of the Congress party who scraped past his nearest BJP rival in Tonk-Sawai Madhopur constituency in Rajasthan. In situations like these where every single vote counts, the potential utility of social media cannot
be ignored. Social media is set to be a major swing factor for all political parties in India in years to come.

The writer is a New Delhi-based independent journalist and columnist who tweets @Kishkindha

The Indian space agency had a good week both in its maiden inter-planetary venture and in its efforts to provide the country its very own satellite based navigation system.

An important milestone was notched in India's mission to Mars lovingly as it crossed the halfway mark of its arduous journey on April 9, 2014 morning at 9.50 am. Launched on November 5, 2013 it has travelled some 337.5 million kilometres till now and is expected
to rendezvous with the Red Planet on September 24, 2014 becoming the farthest any Indian object has ever travelled.

Called `Mangalyaan’ it was made at a mere cost of Rs 4500 million (about USD 70 million) and it is the cheapest inter planetary mission ever to be conceived by humans. The main objective is to look for signatures of life on mars and to fulfil India's deep desire
to beat its regional rival China in reaching Mars. The latter seems on track as really nothing can really stop it from reaching near Mars thanks to the nature of planetary forces and the precise orbit injection by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).

Some 500 scientists toiled day and night to ready this craft in a record 15 months. The journey to Mars is tough to say the least. Till date 51 missions have been launched and 27 have failed. If India reaches Mars it would be the first 'country' to achieve
it on its maiden flight. Till date only USA, Russia and the European Space Agency have successfully reached the Red Planet.

India today invests just about $ 1 billion annually in the ISRO which is the custodian of all space technology for the country. It was set up in 1969 and today employs about 16,000 people.

Scientists at work on India's Mars Oribiter Mission at ISRO centre in Bangalore

A little earlier in the week on April 4, 2014, ISRO created history with 25 successful launches in a row. The Indian space agency made history by launching the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle or PSLV successfully 25 times in a row, bringing India one step closer
to its very global positioning system or what some call the `desi’ GPS.

The 44 meter, 320 ton, PSLV rocket successfully lifted off into the clear blue sky at 5.14 PM from Sriharikota and 19 minutes later accurately placed India's second navigation satellite in space.

This latest launch brings the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) one step closer to start the Indian version of a satellite navigation system. Similar, in functionality to the American Global Positioning System (GPS), but it is regional in coverage.
India will be the sixth country in the world to have this system. This is vitally important in times of war since most modern precision bombs and missiles depend on accurate positioning. Some may naturally ask if this satellite navigation system by India were
working would it have been possible to locate the lost Malaysian Airlines Flight 370, unfortunately the simple answer is no.

Today if you are tech savvy then getting lost may soon become very difficult. India is progressing to install its own satellite navigation system; a fleet of 7 satellites that help provide precise locations better than 20 meters. Till now most of us have
relied on the American GPS or the Global Positioning System, very popular on smart phones but not good enough for military applications. India becomes the 6 nation to embark on this after America, Russia, Europe, China and Japan.

The constellation of Indian satellites will continuously beam down data that can be read by special hand held instruments which when calibrated using sensors based on the ground can help pin point location.

The India made satellite INSAT - 3D on its launch in July 2013
India’s satellite system is designed to cover a region of about 1500 km on either side of the border, essentially covering the geographical region from where India has a perception of threat; both Pakistan and China are within the footprint.

In its 26 flight India’s workhorse rocket the PSLV hoisted a 1432 kilogram special satellite that carries on it a precision clock called an atomic clock and a set of other home-made instruments that beam down accurate time and location data. The entire fleet
of seven satellites is likely to be ready by 2016 when Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) will become operational. The first Indian navigation satellite launched last year in July is working normally.

ISRO is now gearing for the first experimental flight of its largest rocket the Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) Mark III that will be launched sometime in the middle of this year from Sriharikota and will flight test India’s first crew module.

Go ISRO go boldly where no Indian has ever gone before!

(Pallava Bagla is Science Editor for New Delhi Television and a globally recognized science writer. Author of the book `Destination Moon: India’s Quest for Moon, Mars and beyond’. Views expressed are personal. He can be reached at:

The world’s biggest carnival of democracy is in full flow. It’s a carnival in every sense of the word – in terms of sheer drama, spectacle and colour, along with all that hurly-burly and exuberant noise, the parliamentary elections in India have set new benchmarks
that are hard to match anywhere else in the world. The statistics are staggering and overwhelm the imagination: 814.5 million Indians in a country of 1.2 billion people are eligible to vote in the 16th Lok Sabha elections that are being held in nine phases
across India from April 7-May 12. The size of the electorate –- every adult Indian who is 18 (as on January 1, 2014) is free to choose his representative -- exceeds the total population of the 28-nation European Union the US and South Asia minus India. Around
100 million people have been added to the voters’ roll since the last elections in 2009. And here are some more factoids that are truly mind-boggling: this year, there are 919,452 polling stations in which 814.5 million registered voters will use 1,878,306
electronic voting machines to choose candidates fielded by over 300 political parties.

Logic and Logistics

The logistics of organising the elections on this scale are truly awe-inspiring, but the Election Commission of India, an autonomous constitutional body known for unimpeachable standards of integrity, has more than risen to the occasion to ensure free, fair
and credible elections over 67 years of India’s independence. This year, the EC has deployed around 11 million-plus personnel to ensure the world’s largest democratic exercise goes off without a hitch. The EC has also been proactive in organising a string
of awareness campaigns, roping in celebrities, to exhort Indians to exercise their franchise "in an informed and ethical manner” and treat voting as their sacred duty in the service of democracy.

The Lok Sabha elections in India, held every five years unless a mid-term poll is forced upon the nation due to compelling circumstances, are without doubt a stupendous blockbuster of democracy, a celebration of argumentative Indians and a veritable feast of
pomp and polemics. Above all, the elections, based on universal adult franchise, is a great leveller in so far as all adult Indians above 18, be it a celebrity billionaire or an anonymous penniless bard, have one vote each to decide the fate of their aspiring
rulers.

A worker sorts out voting machines before the Election Day in India

Global Media Frenzy

Small wonder, the elections in India tease the global imagination like nothing else, and bring in hordes of journalists, paparazzi and plain curiosity-hunters who don’t mind braving the unforgiving Indian summer to have a first-hand feel of this rambunctious
festival bristling with theatrics and eloquence. Going by the latest buzz, there are some 200-odd foreign correspondents who are criss-crossing the length and breadth of India and trying to unscramble what is clearly the most unpredictable and globally watched
elections in the world. And these journalists represent some of the most powerful media networks in the world, ranging from behemoths like BBC, CNN, Bloomberg, Time, Sydney Morning Herald, Reuters, AFP, AP and Asahi Shimbun and Kyodo News to smaller media
outfits from neighbouring countries like Jamuna Television and Banglanews.

The global interest in the 2014 elections in India is without parallel, and for a reason: given India’s growing diplomatic profile and the country’s increasing intertwining with the global economy, the world has a stake in who gets to rule India and what he
or she stands for. The electoral arena this time is qualitatively different, and has come to resemble personality-oriented presidential-style campaigning: competing for the hearts and minds of over 800 million Indians are a former tea-seller turned political
star of the BJP, the heir-apparent of India’s longest-running political dynasty representing the ruling Congress-led coalition and a maverick engineer-turned-anti-corruption crusader who aspires to change the old status quo politics of privilege that has been
practised in this country for much of its independent history.

People waiting in queue to cast their votes

Election Tourism

One can understand journalists following the Indian elections with all the professional rigour and fervour they can muster, but this time round a new genre of election tourism is shaping up. Touted as the 'Kumbh Mela' of the world’s largest democracy, tourism
industry impresarios and managers are offering election-themed holiday packages to foreign tourists. The sales pitch has apparently worked: Varanasi, the world’s oldest living cosmological city, is attracting droves of curiosity-struck foreign tourists, who
are not seeking salvation, but are looking to experience the much-hyped electoral contest between the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi and AAM Admi party chief Arvind Kejriwal. Ahamedabad is another hot favourite with a new breed of election
tourists. Ahmedabad-based tour operator Election Tourism India is hoping to attract around 2,000 foreigners over the next few weeks till the last phase of polling ends on May 12.

Will foreign policy change?

While speculation is rife about possible policy changes by the new government formed after the elections, no radical changes are expected in the arena of India’s foreign policy. Going by the past, by and large an unwritten across-the-board national consensus
on the country’s foreign policy has endured, with minor improvisations and modulations. This consensus includes pursuing a foreign policy based on enlightened national interest, good relations with neighbouring countries and extended neighbourhood, strategic
autonomy, constructive engagement with major powers and emerging powers, promoting a rule-based international border, and vigorously enlarging the country’s developmental options through innovative and pragmatic diplomacy. Regardless of who forms the government
in New Delhi after the votes are counted and the results are declared on May 16, the world can, therefore, expect some predictability and continuity in broad thrusts of India’s multi-layered relations with the world.

Keeper of Democracy Dream

In a world where democracy remains a distant dream for more than three billion people, the spectacle of the Indian elections, with its proven record of peaceful transfer of power over more than six decades, should be inspiring and a compelling argument against
authoritarianism. Currently, more than 100 countries are technically democracies in so far as they hold elections to choose their rulers. The good news is that with every passing year, more countries are getting converted to the democratic fold. However, according
to a report by The Economist Intelligence Unit, only 15 percent of countries enjoy full democracy and nearly a third of the world's nations are ruled by authoritarian regimes. Against this backdrop, the exhilarating spectacle of millions of Indians voting
to elect their rulers should be an exemplar. What’s more, the elections in India, despite the sheer magnitude of the exercise and mind-boggling diversity, have been remarkably free of violence or bloodletting, and have consistently scored high on credibility.

An elderly person gets his finger inked before casting his vote.

India Ink

But for all its justly-earned democratic credentials and its enduring belief in an inclusive democratic world order, India is not in the business of exporting democracy – proselytising is alien to the all-embracing Indian culture and ethos. India has, however,
been prompt to render assistance in holding elections or democratic institution-building, but only on request. It may not be an exaggeration to say that the country’s fiercely argumentative and vibrant democracy has emerged as a role model for many countries
across the world, ranging from Myanmar and Nepal in Asia to Egypt, Libya and Tunisia in North Africa. New democracies, especially those born in the aftermath of the Arab Spring, are now looking at the Indian model of democratic development for inspiration.
From Afghanistan to Cambodia, India has been happy to send indelible ink, electronic voting machines or polling officers to train personnel in the business of conducting elections. Indelible ink, repository of democratic dreams, produced in Mysore, India’s
southern city, has become the much sought-after charm by established and fledgling democracies. In the last three decades, Mysore Paints & Varnish Ltd has exported the ink to 28 countries across the world, including Turkey, South Africa, Nigeria, Nepal, Ghana,
Papua-New Guinea, Burkina Faso, Canada, Togo, Sierra Leone, Malaysia and Cambodia.

In the near future, India looks set to be the world’s most populous democracy – an honour it will be all too happy to cede to China if the latter opts for electoral democracy. And the parliamentary elections in India will remain a veritable carnival and the
keeper of the world’s democratic dream.

(Manish Chand is Editor-in-Chief of India Writes,
www.indiawrites.org, an online journal and magazine focused on international affairs and the India Story).

Nuclear terrorism and clandestine proliferation continue to pose a serious threat to international security. India fully shares the continuing global concern on possible breaches of nuclear security. India welcomes the galvanising role that the Nuclear
Security Summit process has played in raising awareness of this threat and in promoting national actions and international cooperation. India continues to underline that the IAEA’s role is central to international cooperative efforts to promote nuclear security.
Though the focus of action on nuclear security is primarily national, national actions must be supplemented by national responsibility. All States must strictly abide by the international commitments that they have undertaken.

The 3rd Nuclear Security Summit is a follow-up of two earlier Summits held in Washington in 2010 and at Seoul in 2012. EAM was leader of the Indian Delegation and was accompanied by a high-level delegation, including Foreign Secretary Mrs. Sujatha Singh,
who was India’s Sherpa for the Summit. The main objective of the NSS process is to raise global awareness on the issue of nuclear terrorism and to get Governments to agree on measures that are required to prevent terrorists and other non-state actors from
gaining access to sensitive nuclear facilities, materials and technologies. In a sense, the NSS process has acted as a catalyst for international cooperation along with the IAEA.

India views nuclear energy as an essential source of clean energy for meeting our growing demand for power. We are committed to taking forward our three stage nuclear programme based on a closed fuel cycle and the principle of reprocess to reuse. India
envisages a major expansion of nuclear energy in the coming decades from just over 5000 MW currently to 20,000 MW by 2020 and on to 60,000 MW by 2030.

India’s nuclear programme is oriented towards maximising the energy potential of available Uranium resources and the utilisation of India’s large Thorium reserves. In India’s view, available global uranium resources cannot sustain the projected expansion
of nuclear power without adopting the closed fuel cycle approach. Such an approach also offers the prospect of technology-based solutions for nuclear security, nuclear waste management and nuclear proliferation dilemmas.

Outcome of Summit:

The Summit took stock and evaluated the progress made since Seoul and agreed on some new measures which are reflected in the Communiqué. Several countries elaborated on steps taken to strengthen nuclear security in their own countries, including through
circulation of their national progress reports. India’s national progress report was also released at the time of the Summit and was widely welcomed.

An innovative feature of this Summit at the initiative of the host country, Netherlands was the enhanced role for Heads of Delegation discussion on the future orientation of the NSS process. This included a discussion by Heads of Government over scenario
based policy debate, in which a fictional nuclear security threat scenario was presented and leaders were encouraged to make choices and discuss those options at an informal Plenary of Heads of Delegation. The outcome was reflected in the Final Communiqué.

Outcome from India’s perspective:

The outcome was totally satisfactory from India’s perspective. Our national progress report was much appreciated. In our Plenary Statement, leader of India’s delegation, External Affairs Minister Shri Salman Khurshid underlined that India had not wavered
in its commitment to global efforts to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery. India had never been a source of proliferation of sensitive materials and technologies. India was proud of its record on nuclear security
and nuclear non-proliferation but India was not complacent. India was committed to upholding and strengthening physical security of nuclear facilities and materials, and was prepared to further strengthen its export control systems in line with the highest
international standards. India’s adherence to the guidelines and lists of the Nuclear Suppliers Group and the Missile Technology Control Regime was testimony to this commitment. India’s membership of the four export control regimes would further strengthen
global non-proliferation efforts. India also supports the early commencement of negotiations on a Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty in the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva.

EAM further stated that after the tragedy at Fukushima, we have comprehensively reviewed nuclear safety measures at all our nuclear facilities; we are strengthening emergency preparedness, monitoring, and response to nuclear accidents. After successfully
hosting an IAEA Operational Safety Review Team at two nuclear power reactors in 2012, this year we have invited the IAEA to conduct a regulatory review of India’s Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB). We remain engaged with the IAEA’s Commission on Nuclear
Safety Standards, the IAEA Director General’s Advisory Group on Nuclear Security and the Nuclear Security Guidance Committee. Our experts are contributing to the formulation of IAEA’s Nuclear Security Plans. We are pleased that the IAEA is utilising our financial
contribution to the Nuclear Security Fund for cooperative activities to strengthen nuclear security. EAM commended the IAEA for organising the July 2013 Ministerial Conference on Nuclear Security. India was one of the countries represented at the level of
a Minister.

In conclusion, EAM also welcomed the offer of the USA to host the next Nuclear Security Summit in Washington in 2016. EAM suggested that we should give thought, in our next inter-Summit process, to the role IAEA could play in steering the implementation
of the NSS commitments beyond Washington while reserving the possibility of occasionally convening future Summits as required.

Conclusion:

It may be noted that India is no stranger to nuclear security. At the dawn of India’s nuclear power programme, India’s first Prime Minister Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru had minuted that source material for nuclear energy was not an ordinary commodity and needed
to be handled with care. India became a founder member of the IAEA in 1957 and has implemented IAEA safeguards on its civilian nuclear facilities for more than four decades. As a follow-up to the 2010 NSS in Washington, Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh announced
the setting up of a Global Centre for Nuclear Energy Partnership (GCNEP) as a centre of excellence on nuclear security. This Centre which is being established will, as stated by Prime Minister "Conduct research and develop design systems that in principle
safe, proliferation resistant and sustainable”. The foundation stone of the Centre was laid on 3rd January 2014 in Kheri Jassaur in Haryana and some activities have already commenced.

It is, therefore, natural for India to be an active participant in current efforts to strengthen nuclear security given its nuclear programme and expertise, its interest in expansion of civil nuclear energy in safe and secure conditions and its experience
with State-sponsored terrorism. India has an impeccable record on nuclear non-proliferation and Indian nuclear technologies and materials have never leaked anywhere, in contrast to some cases of rampant proliferation in Asia involving Governments and State
actors. Nevertheless, India is not complacent on nuclear security and has taken steps to strengthen it even further, including through international cooperation through IAEA and the Nuclear Security Summit process. We would continue such cooperation in future.
The planned Global Centre for Nuclear Energy Partnership (GCNEP) would provide the ideal platform to strengthen the various dimensions of nuclear security in India with such international cooperation.

When a French president visited India for the second time, he asked for a particular Sikh gentleman who was assigned as protocol officer to take care of him during his trip to Agra, the home of the immortal Taj Mahal. He remembered him with much affection and
showered praises on him for showing him around with grace and aplomb. The anecdotal story shows how protocol imperceptibly becomes the face of a country’s diplomacy, culture and etiquette that stays with foreign visitors long after joint statements are signed
and deals are struck.

Protocol: Frontline of Diplomacy

In fact, the host country’s Chief Protocol Officer is the first hand that greets a visiting leader and the last face that he sees before returning home. The protocol officer, as Dinkar Khullar, Secretary (West) in India’s external affairs ministry says aptly,
walks in the footsteps of history and forms the frontline of diplomatic engagement.

President of the Federal Republic of Germany, Mr. Joachim Gauck inspecting the Guard of Honour at the Ceremonial
Reception, at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi
Etymologically, protocol is derived from the Greek word "protokollan,” which means "first glue” and alluded to the act of gluing a sheet of paper to the front of a document to preserve it when it was sealed, which imparted additional authenticity to it. The
term protocol originally related to the various forms of interaction observed in official correspondence between states, but later came to encompass a much wider range of international relations. According to Dr. P.M. Forni, the celebrated professor of civility
at John Hopkins University, protocol refers to well-established and time-honoured rules that have made it easier for nations and people to live and work together. "Part of protocol has always been the acknowledgment of the hierarchical standing of all present.
Protocol rules are based on the principles of civility,” he says.

Setting the stage

Protocol, like good wine, sets the mood and creates the right atmospherics for the diplomatic and political leadership to move ahead with serious diplomatic business at hand. Protocol, says Ruchira Kamboj, India’s chief protocol officer, showcases a country’s
etiquette. Protocol is, therefore, key to effective and successful diplomacy. Unfortunately, protocol sometimes gets confused with just glory and grandeur, pomp and ceremony, and all that glitter and glamour. But as any veteran diplomat will tell you, that’s
a deceptively seductive picture. Good protocol, and the way it is choreographed with an attention to minute details, requires relentless hard work to ensure everything goes without a hitch, with clockwork precision, as it were.

Ms. Ruchira Kamboj, Chief of Protocol receives Dr. Ali Mohamed Shein, President of Zanzibar at Indira Gandhi
International Airport in New Delhi

For a rising economy like India which hosts over 100 heads of state/government, vice-premiers, vice-presidents, ministers and high-profile diplomatic and business delegations, the country’s growing diplomatic stature means more and more work for its small but
dedicated team of protocol officers, who have done it all with elan. The protocol department in the MEA at the centre has barely 50-odd officers and staff who toil ceaselessly to keep the diplomatic machinery humming like a well-modulated song.

State Protocol Officers’ Meeting

India is clearly one of the busiest international diplomatic hubs as it hosts 170 foreign embassies, 200 honorary consulates, 100 consulate-general and 38 international organisations. Most visits by foreign leaders are focused on the talks and meetings in Delhi.
However, over the last decade or so, the action has shifted to other states in India as well. Many a time, a visiting leader chooses to begin his state visit to India from Mumbai or Bangalore or Hyderabad. In fact, it’s become almost customary for a visiting
leader to hold talks in Delhi, go for a trip to Agra to see the iconic Taj Mahal and head to Mumbai, Bangalore or Hyderabad as the case may be. There are some leaders like Myanmar’s President or Mauritius president who have spent a few days in Bihar before
heading to Delhi for the talks.

State Protocol Officers at a Training Programme organized by the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi

The state capitals and cities in other states also host important international conferences. For example, Gurgaon, a bustling city in Haryana, hosted the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) in November last year, which brought foreign ministers and senior officials
of nearly 50 Asian and European countries to Indian shores. In 2012, Gurgaon played host to over 20 foreign ministers from the Indian Ocean Rim Association of Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC) Bangalore, India’s IT city and the capital of Karnataka, played host
to the Russia-India-China trilateral meeting of foreign ministers in 2012.

Against this backdrop of the growing importance of states in the country’s burgeoning diplomatic engagement, India’s Ministry of External Affairs held a two-day conference of state protocol officers in New Delhi March 10-12. The idea behind the conference was
to ensure better coordination between the protocol department of the MEA in Delhi and state protocol officers. The conference saw the firming of strict guidelines for state protocol officers in the form of a booklet, which will enable them to deal with tricky
situations like how to handle a demanding ambassador of a foreign country who is visiting his state to the kind of treatment to be meted out to a foreign visitor, according to his rank.

The guidelines, among other things, lay out ground rules for handling VVIP and VIP visits by foreign dignitaries at the level of heads of state, vice presidents and heads of government for state protocol authorities. The focus is on ensuring a uniform policy
to deal with protocol aspects of visits by foreign dignitaries to the states/Union Territories of India. The visits have been classified as: 1) State Visits II) Official Visits III) Working visits. A state visit is a visit at the level of head of state or
head of government where all ceremonial honours are given to the visiting dignitary. An official visit does not include any ceremonial aspect and may include other engagements incorporated in a state visit. A working visit may contain elements of an official
visit, and is usually limited to Delhi only. The state protocol officers are also instructed to follow guidelines for the opening/functioning of foreign consulates and foreign trade offices in their respective states in India.

Diplomatic Immunity

Protocol is not just about ensuring flawless visits by foreign leaders; it also deals with issues of diplomatic immunity and conferences. The 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, for example, defines a framework for diplomatic relations between sovereign
countries. The international treaty envisages diplomatic immunity and stipulates the privileges of a diplomatic mission that enable diplomats to perform their function without fear of coercion or harassment by the host country. The treaty has been ratified
by 189 states. It was this treaty India’s foreign office invoked to protest against the arrest and ill treatment of its diplomat Devyani Khobragade by the US authorities.

Saying it with flowers

The importance of protocol, therefore, can’t be exaggerated, and has steadily grown over the years. As India steps up its pitch for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council and its diplomatic footprints expand across the world, Asia’s rising economy looks
set to welcome more and more world leaders into its welcoming embrace. India’s small but fanatically dedicated team of protocol officers have always risen to the challenge, and look set to ensure that the handshake remains as warm as ever, the guests are seated
according to precedence at state banquets, the colour of tablecloth and the choice of flowers are just right to ensure that landmark deals and enduring friendships are forged between nations and their leaders.

(Manish Chand is Editor-in-Chief of India Writes, www.indiawrites.org, an online magazine and journal focused on international affairs).

Read on web :Digital India Perspectives March-April 2014 ( 14 Languages )
]]>10/03/2014 15:11:24MEA Adminhttps://mea.gov.in/in-focus-article.htm?23053/On+Mobile++India+Perspectives+Now+in+14+Languages
MEA2305323091Nuclear Security in India
Nuclear Security is the prevention and detection of, and response to unauthorised removal, sabotage, unauthorised access, illegal transfer or other malicious acts involving nuclear or radiological material or their associated facilities. The scale and scope
of India’s civil nuclear programme is unique for a developing country. India has twenty operating nuclear power plants, a range of fuel cycle facilities from mining of uranium and thorium to reprocessing plants and fast reactors, and a large, expert human
resource in nuclear science and technology spread over a variety of research labs and institutions. Nuclear energy is slated to play an increasingly important role in India’s energy security and sustainable development plans.

A rainbow bridge between South Asia and Southeast Asia, the summit of leaders of the BIMSTEC grouping in Myanmar promises to be an important milestone that could entwine this dynamic region closer in an intricate web of shared dreams and prosperity. Home to
over 1.5 billion people, the seven-nation grouping boasts a combined GDP of $2.5 trillion and comprises vibrant economies that are carving their destiny in a renascent Asia.

Founded in 1997, the third summit of the BIMSTEC in Myanmar’s capital Nay Pyi Taw March 4 will mark a defining moment in the grouping’s evolution by setting up a permanent secretariat in Dhaka. For India, which has played a proactive role in nurturing this
nascent grouping, the summit in Myanmar in which Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will participate, will be especially gratifying as it has pledged to contribute a third of the annual expenditure of the BIMSTEC secretariat in Dhaka.Heads of State/Government at the First BIMST-EC SUMMIT, 2004

In the scrambled alphabet of geopolitical groupings, BIMSTEC is an imaginative experiment in promoting regional cooperation and connectivity. Conceived as a bridge-builder between the SAARC and the ASEAN, the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical
and Economic Cooperation started off as the Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand Economic Cooperation Group in 1997. Myanmar joined in 1997, while Nepal and Bhutan joined in 2004 when the first summit was held in Bangkok. India hosted the second summit of
BIMSTEC leaders in 2008 and has been in the forefront of a host of pioneering initiatives in kindred areas, including connectivity, tourism and disaster mitigation. "BIMSTEC is an expression of India’s Look East Policy of the 1990s, coinciding with Thailand’s
Look West Policy,” says Sujatha Singh, India’s foreign secretary.Heads of State/Government at the BIMSTEC SUMMIT, 2008

For New Delhi, the BIMSTEC is an integral part of its ongoing efforts to map out new pathways of geo-economic cooperation among countries in the region, which it sees as part of its extended neighbourhood. Apart from the overarching vision of regional connectivity,
what animates India’s proactive role in BIMSTEC is the larger national goal of transforming north-eastern states by opening up fresh avenues of win-win opportunities. In fact, BIMSTEC, according to Sujatha Singh, could be a potential game-changer for the north-eastern
India’s quest for prosperity. The states of India’s northeast have shown a marked economic vibrancy, with the region clocking economic growth of 10% a year, which is faster than the country’s average of about 5% a year.The 13th BIMSTEC Ministerial Meeting, Nay Pyi Taw

Over the years, the BIMSTEC has been steadily expanding its agenda. The grouping has identified 14 priority areas in which India is the lead country in four focus areas, including transport and communication, tourism, environment and disaster management, and
counterterrorism and transnational crime. Promoting connectivity tops India’s priority. India has been vigorously promoting railways, roadways, and dialogue on maritime and multimodal transport. Building upon the BIMSTEC Transport Infrastructure and Logistics
Study in December 2013, the grouping will finalise a short list of priority projects for regional connectivity by the middle of this year in New Delhi for implementation with assistance from the Asian Development Bank. Forging people-to-people contacts through
tourism and cultural exchanges is another core goal of the grouping. New Delhi also hosts a BIMSTEC Information Centre for promoting tourism, an area bristling with potential given that all countries comprising the grouping are known for a stunning array of
tourist attractions. India offers 1200 ITEC scholarships which are helping build closer people-to-people linkages. RIS, a leading Indian thank tank, also helped organise the BIMSTEC Network of Think Tanks.The tsunami in December 2005, which unleashed mayhem
and destruction across some of the countries in the region, prompted India to take the initiative to forge regional mechanisms of cooperation in the sphere of environment and disaster management. The collective efforts culminated in setting up a Tsunami Warning
Centre for data sharing. India’s Ministry of Earth Sciences is establishing the BIMSTEC centre on weather and climate in Noida, a satellite township close to the Indian capital.

Besides geo-economics, a host of cross-cutting threats has prompted the seven-nation grouping to deepen their security and strategic cooperation. In counterterrorism, India has taken the lead in negotiations and the grouping is now close to finalising the BIMSTEC
Convention on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters. The Convention on Combating International Terrorism, Transnational Organised Crime, and Illicit Drug Trafficking was signed in 2009. The counter-terror cooperation got a boost with the setting up of
four subgroups with lead shepherds in intelligence sharing at Sri Lanka. In combating the finance of terrorism, the lead shepherd is Thailand, and in the area of legal and law enforcement, including the prevention of illicit trafficking in narcotics, the lead
shepherd is Myanmar.

India has also been more than willing to back initiatives by other member countries in diverse areas, including energy, public health and agriculture. For example, India’s Ministry of Power is establishing a BIMSTEC Energy Centre in Bengaluru, which could stimulate
the development of regional energy resources and grids. In the area of public health, India has set up a network on traditional medicine for BIMSTEC partners and is seeking a more robust engagement in the field of generic pharmaceuticals.

Agriculture is another promising area for intra-regional cooperation within BIMSTEC. In this context, India has offered support for cooperation on biotechnology, seeds and control of trans-boundary diseases and linking of agricultural institutes.

Looking ahead, the finalisation of a free trade area (FTA) between BIMSTEC members could be a potential paradigm changer for accelerating trade and investment in this extended region. Expanding business links and economic cooperation will be a key theme for
discussions among leaders of the BIMSTEC in the Myanmar capital.

Besides the establishment of the permanent secretariat, the third summit will also culminate in a string of significant decisions, including the signing of the MoA on the BIMSTEC Centre on Weather and Climate in India, signing of an MoA on cultural industries
and setting up an observatory in Bhutan. The trip to Myanmar will also see the Indian prime minister engage Myanmar leaders in bilateral talks, which are expected to galvanise multi-layered relations between the two countries.

Fittingly, the theme of the third BIMSTEC summit is harmony and prosperity which resonates with collective dreams and aspirations of over 1.5 billion people. The summit in 2014 could go down in history as the year when the BIMSTEC shed its earlier diffidence
and pioneered a host of initiatives that will cement the seven-nation grouping a powerful force for good in the region.

It’s an unending journey, laden with history, nostalgia and cross-cultural intermingling. If the two-way trade between India and Africa is now racing to touch $100 billion by 2015, it all goes back centuries ago when enterprising Gujarati traders from Kutch
smelt spices and profits in a distant Indian Ocean island located thousands of miles away.

Zanzibar: A Spicy Affair

Centuries hence, India and Indians continue to permeate the spirit of Zanzibar, better known for its stunningly picturesque beaches and thriving spice
trade. In many ways, Zanzibar, home to a sizeable Indian community, has emerged as a miniature of India’s engagement with Africa, which revolves around the trinity of trade, training and technology transfer.This colourful history of India’s multifarious connections
with Zanzibar, a semi-autonomous region of Tanzania, frames the nine-day visit (Feb 1-9) of President Dr. Ali Mohamed Shein to India.(In Pic: President Dr. Ali Mohamed Shein arrives in New Delhi on 02 February 2014)

He is accompanied by senior ministers and a delegation of high-profile businessmen, who are travelling with him to Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bangalore. Bolstering business ties, cooperation in capacity building and cultural exchanges top the agenda of Dr.
Shein’s India visit.

Gift of Light, the ITEC way

Given the burgeoning hunger for education and training in his province and across Africa, it’s not surprising that the Zanzibar leader has begun his India journey with a trip to Barefoot College in Rajasthan, which has emerged as a beacon of light and hope
for hundreds of rural women from Africa, Latin America and Pacific island nations. They learn the craft of solar engineering in Tilonia in Rajasthan, and go on to light up their far-flung villages when they return home. Back home, the Zanzibar leader has seen
first-hand the subtlety and dexterity of the Zanzibari rural women in assembling, installing and maintaining solar lamps for providing electric power to nearly 100 homes. This gift of light they had received in their training under the Indian Technical and
Economic Cooperation programme, popularly called ITEC, which lies at the core of India’s partnership with Africa in the sphere of human resource development. Inspired by this act of self-fashioning and transformation, the Zanzibar leader now wants to replicate
such training facilities in his province. (In Pic: Barefoot Solar Grandmothers from Least Developed Countries underwent
training under the Ministry’s ITEC Programme and celebrated International Women’s Day on March 08, 2013)

Knowledge Power

In a sense, solar grandmoms, as they are called, have become emblems of India’s development-centric partnership with Africa. Training and capacity building are core thrusts of India’s engagement with Africa. Given Africa’s overwhelmingly young population, the
continent is poised to reap a demographic dividend, and India sees itself as a partner in this quest for empowerment and transformation. This explains why India has promised to set up over 100 training institutes across Africa encompassing diverse areas ranging
from agriculture, rural development and food processing to information technology, vocational training, English language centres, and entrepreneurial development institutes. These training institutes are poised to be a game-changer in Africa’s ongoing resurgence
and its ambition to become a knowledge-driven society. Preliminary work on these training institutes has already started, and India is hoping that at least some of them will be up and running by the time New Delhi hosts the third India-Africa Forum Summit
later this year. This focus on human resource nurturing is also evident in over 20,000 scholarships India has given to African students. India is also home to over 20,000 African students, with most of them paying for themselves.

The heart of the burgeoning India-Africa partnership remains the kindred quest for growth, equity and inclusive development. In the spirit of South-South cooperation and its focus on partnering the African resurgence, India has pledged around $8 billion soft
loans (lines of credit) for a host of development projects in the resource-rich and infrastructure-hungry continent. India, as Manmohan Singh said, wishes to see the 21st century as the Century of Asia and Africa with the people of the two continents working
together to promote inclusive globalisation.

Scaling a New Summit

Marking an important milestone in their relationship, India and Africa began the process of summit meetings in 2008, which provide an overarching architecture
for top-level engagement between the two sides on the basis of the Banjul formula. The summit meeting is now held every three years and entails the African Union choosing participating African countries for the gathering of heads of state/government of India
and Africa. The two summits held so far in New Delhi and Addis Ababa in 2008 and 2011 respectively have underscored unique and enduring features of India's engagement which is animated by a response to Africa' "needs, requests and priorities.” "In accordance
with Africa's own priorities, we have decided to significantly enhance support for institutional capacity building, technical assistance and training programmes for human resource development in Africa," Manmohan Singh said at the India-Africa Forum Summit
in Addis Ababa. "The similarity of our development experiences and circumstances has made India-Africa cooperation a genuine two-way street. This is its true strength and its distinctive feature,” he underlined.

Two-Way Street

Indeed, the India-Africa relationship is increasingly becoming a two-way street and a partnership of equals as the India story increasingly intersects an unfolding narrative of Afro-optimism. In the economic sphere, there is a perceptible surge of enthusiasm
on both sides to intensify trade and investment. The resurgent African continent is generating a wave of Afro-optimism, with the continent expected to clock the growth rate of 6 per cent this year. India and Africa, with a combined gross domestic product of
nearly $3 trillion and healthy growth rates, are rapidly emerging as a bulwark against the corroding downturn. Building upon this new business alchemy, bilateral trade between has exceeded $60 billion. The two sides are now confident of scaling trade to $100
billion by 2015.

A global partnership

With their growing economic prowess and a shared vision of crafting an inclusive world order, it’s not surprising that India and Africa are now complementing
their economic ties with strategic orientation. "We believe that a new vision is required for Africa's development and participation in global affairs,” Manmohan Singh said to applause of African leaders in Addis Ababa in 2011. India and Africa are on "the
right side of history,” he said with an uncanny prescience.

Pushing the envelope, India and Africa are proactively seeking to collaborate on a slew of global issues, ranging from jointly combating terrorism and piracy to close coordination in global fora over the UN reforms, climate change and the WTO negotiations.
In the days to come, one can expect India and Africa to come closer to achieve reform of political, security and economic institutions of governance.

People Power

The deepening of economic and strategic ties between India and Africa, home to over two billion people and some of the fastest-growing economies, is indeed an exhilarating story. But at the end of it all, the enduring strength of India-Africa relations remains
a sense of deep-rooted empathy, solidarity and people-to-people contacts. And it is the strengthening of this popular and cultural base, which holds the key to the continued vibrancy of this important diplomatic relationship of the 21st century.

India and Africa: A Shared Journey - a short film

(Manish Chand is Editor-in-Chief of India Writes (www.indiawrites.org), an online magazine and journal focused on international affairs. He has edited Africa Quarterly; Two Billion Dreams: Celebrating India-Africa Friendship;
and co-edited Engaging with A Resurgent Africa)

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will be the chief guest at the Republic Day Parade this year, the first ever Japanese dignitary to grace the occasion.

New Delhi and Tokyo view Abe's visit to India, which comes a bit over a month and a half after the historic first ever visit to India of Japanese Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko, as pinnacle of India-Japan bilateral relations.

Cooperation between Asia's number two and three economies have never been as close across as wide a gamut of areas. These include trade, technology, energy and now increasingly even defence. Japanese Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera visited New Delhi earlier
this month to discuss deepening of defence cooperation between India and Japan.

The visits of the Emperor and Empress, Japanese defence minister Onodera and the forthcoming visit of Prime Minister Abe come at a juncture when
Tokyo finds itself reviewing its approach to be more in tune with its current geo-strategic challenges. Abe has for long been a votary of strong India-Japan strategic ties.(Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko at the ceremonial
reception at Rashtrapathi Bhawan during their visit to India in November-December 2013)

Abe: A strong India in the best interest of Japan

At an Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA) lecture in September 2011, Abe said: "a strong India is in the best interest of Japan, and a strong Japan is in the best interest of India." Abe has pushed for stronger India-Japan relations ever since returning
as the PM of Japan in end-2012, the first ever former Japanese PM to return to office since 1948.

Abe was the Prime Minister of Japan for a year in September 2006 to September 2007 during which time he did much to better India-Japan bilateral
ties. In 2007, Abe became the first ever Japanese PM to address a joint session of Indian Parliament.He told the Indian MPs about the the time India's first PM Jawaharlal Nehru hosted Abe's maternal grandfather the then Japanese Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi
in New Delhi in 1957. Nehru introduced Kishi at a public reception thus: "This is the Prime Minister of Japan, a country I hold in the greatest esteem." It was rare in the aftermath of the Second World War for a Japanese PM to be felicitated such at a public
rally and that too by a leader of Nehru's stature.Caption: Prime Minister Nehru with visiting Japanese Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi in New Delhi on May 20, 1957

Abe reminisced at his 2011 ICWA speech about how deeply Nehru's gesture had touched his grandfather. Abe said: "As a young boy seated on his knee, I would hear him telling me that Prime Minister Nehru introduced him to the biggest audience he had ever seen
in his lifetime of a hundred thousand people. He told me that it was India that came forward before any other country to accept the ODA Japan wanted to extend as a proud member of the international community. For all that, he remained deeply thankful throughout
his life."

Japan continues to be the largest bilateral donor to India. The ODA (Official Development Assistance) has supported several infrastructure projects in India. Japan had cumulatively committed until March 2013 ODA of US $ 40 billion. Over 60 projects are being
implemented under this assistance as of February 2013. These are in the power sector, transportation, shipping, railways, renewable energy, etc.

India's crucial political support to Japan post World War II

The recent visit of the Emperor and Empress was another historic moment in India-Japan relations. The couple reprised their visit to India made over five decades back. Crown Prince Akihito and Princess Michiko's 1960 visit had acknowledged the strong hand of
friendship that a newly independent India had extended towards Japan, already an economic powerhouse but recovering from the damage that World War II had wreaked on its economic and social life.

India's expression of friendship was its gratitude for the Japanese help to the Indian National Army (INA). Japan had released Indian prisoners of war at the request of Subhas Chandra Bose to help build the INA which fought alongside the Japanese in Singapore,
Burma and northeast India. The war cemetery in Imphal where Indian and Japanese soldiers lie buried together is a testimony to that sacrifice.In the 1950s Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru pushed Indian iron ore exporters to supply the mineral in large quantities
to Japan to help rebuild its steel industry. This was a time when Japan found it difficult to get iron ore from Australia and other countries.

Nehru, in a humanitarian gesture that is remembered to this day, donated a baby elephant to Tokyo's Ueno Zoo. Most animals at the zoo had been
poisoned or had starved to death during the war years. The elephant, named Indira after Nehru's daughter, brought much joy to Japanese children. Its passing away in 1983 was widely mourned in Japan.(Nehru and daughter Indira
with Emperor Hirohito, Empress Nagako and Crown Prince Akihito in Tokyo in 1957)

These were also the years when India under Nehru declined to sign the Peace Treaty of San Francisco which Japan found as offending its dignity. The treaty was signed on September 8, 1951 by 48 nations and came into force on April 28, 1952. India considered
the treaty as putting unfair limitations to Japanese sovereignty. India signed a separate treaty of peace with Japan in 1952 that waived all rights to reparations.

Linked to this was another instance of India and Indians showing solidarity with Japan. Radhabinod Pal was an Indian justice on the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal who dissented with the other judges to claim that the trial was an exercise in retribution by the victors
of the war and that Japan's wartime leaders were not guilty.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh recalled Pal's contribution to India-Japan relations in a speech in the Diet on December 14, 2006. "The principled judgment of Justice Radhabinod Pal after the War is remembered even today in Japan. Ladies and Gentlemen, these
events reflect the depth of our friendship and the fact that we have stood by each other at critical moments of our history." Japanese PM Shinzo Abe met Pal's octogenarian son Prasanta in Kolkata in August 2007.

Such instances of goodwill are replete in India-Japan relations. Japanese politicians refer warmly to India's declaration of national mourning at the time of the demise of the Showa (Hirohito) Emperor in 1989.However, this momentum of close ties weakened between
1960s to 1980s. Japanese PM Hayato Ikeda visited India in 1961 but the next visit by a Japanese PM took place over two decades later in 1984 by PM Yasuhiro Nakasone. PM Rajiv Gandhi visited Tokyo in 1988, which marked the revival of sustained political contacts.

A Partnership to Build a Peaceful Asia

Today, Japan and India are the closest of friends. New Delhi has an institutionalised system of annual summits with Tokyo since 2006. Russia is the only other country with which India has this mechanism in place. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visited Japan
in May 2013 for the seventh annual summit.

India and Japan are partners busy knitting a fabric of a peaceful and stable Asia-Pacific. As two of Asia's bigger democracies and amongst its largest economies it is in New Delhi and Tokyo's interest as also responsibility that the region's maritime commerce
continues unimpeded to contribute to mutual economic prosperity not only for India and Japan but also the ASEAN countries.

Strong Economic ties

India still remembers Japan as one of the few countries that helped it during the 1991 balance of payments crisis. In the early-1980s, Japan's Suzuki Motors changed the way Indians travelled by making the dream of owning a car a reality for millions of middle
class Indians with its Maruti 800.A little over a decade later, it was Japan again which changed the way Delhi travelled. Japan's contribution in making Delhi Metro and its help in similar projects in a dozen other cities is well known as its assistance in
Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor Project and Dedicated Freight Corridor Projects on the Mumbai-Delhi and Delhi-Howrah routes.

India and Japan, however, need to boost their bilateral trade. It stood at $18.61 billion in 2012-13, increasing marginally from $18.43 in 2011-12. India's exports to Japan in 2012-13 were US$ 6.1 billion and imports were $12.51 billion.

The India-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) became effective in August 2011. It is one of the most comprehensive of all
such agreements concluded by India and aims at eliminating tariffs over 94 percent of items traded between India and Japan, say MEA officials. This agreement is expected to help bolster the bilateral trade volume.(Prime Minister
Shinzo Abe during his 2007 visit to New Delhi)

2007: Abe and Singh sign 'The Roadmap for New Dimensions to the Strategic and Global Partnership between India and Japan' and on the "Enhancement of Cooperation on Environmental Protection and Energy Security'

2008: sign a Joint Declaration on 'Security Cooperation' and a Joint Statement on the 'Advancement of Strategic and Global Partnership between India and Japan'

2009: Joint Statement on 'New Stage of Japan-India Strategic and Global Partnership' signed

2010: Joint Statement 'Vision for India-Japan Strategic and Global Partnership in the Next Decade' and a Joint Declaration on the India-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA)

2011: Joint statement entitled 'Vision for the Enhancement of India-Japan Strategic and Global Partnership' upon entering the year of the 60th Anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations

The first lady President of the Republic of Korea, HE Park Gyun-hye is visiting India on 15 – 18 January 2013 at the invitation of President Pranab Mukherjee.

The visit would be a major landmark in the rapidly deepening bilateral relationship between the 3rd and 4th largest economies of Asia. The visit of President Park in the very first year of her 5 year term is a forceful iteration of her administration’s commitment
to the strong ties forged with India by her predecessor President Lee Myung – bak.

India had acknowledged the importance of India – ROK relations by inviting former President Lee Myung – bak as the Chief Guest at the 61st Republic Day
celebrations in January 2010. During the visit the bilateral relationship was raised to the level of "Strategic Partnership” from the "Long Term Cooperative Partnership for Peace and Prosperity” declared at the time of President Rho Mou-hyun’s state visit
to India in 2004. President Rho was from the liberal side and Presidents Lee and Park are from the conservative party. It is reassuring to note that in both the countries there is complete bipartisan support to a strong friendship between India and ROK.
President Lee Myung inspecting the Guard of Honour at Rashtrapati Bhawan in New Delhi in January, 2010

Over the years, India and ROK relations have passed through several distinct phases. The 1950s were a period of estrangement between democratic India and authoritarian South Korea. 1960s and 70s also witnessed only a limited engagement as ROK continued to be
authoritarian. In the 1980s, ROK’s remarkable economic progress caught the attention of Indian leadership. Once ROK embraced real democracy in the late 1980s the bilateral relations grew rapidly.

The visit of Prime Minster P.V. Narasimha Rao to ROK in 1993 paved the way for the entry of Korean Chaebols into India. Over time Korean companies like
Samsung, LG and Hyundai Motors have become household names in India.
Prime Minster P.V. Narasimha Rao visited Republic of Korea in 1993

The economic exchanges have grown rapidly between the two market economies. India – ROK trade crossed $20 billion in the year 2011. In fact, India – ROK trade is more than India – Japan trade. The two countries declared their intention to fashion a close economic
engagement by forging a Comprehensive Economic Partnership in 2010.

Relations in the field of defence are also
growing rapidly. Following Prime Minister Manmoohan Singh’s March 2012 official visit to Seoul, a Defence Wing has been opened in the Indian Embassy in Seoul. During the visit of Defence Minister A.K.Antony’s visit to Seoul in 2010 a Defense Cooperation Agreement
had been signed. For the first time a contract for purchase of five minesweepers from ROK is under active consideration of Indian army.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh received by President Lee Myung-bak in Seoul in March, 2012.

In our times, people to people relations are a critical element of any bilateral partnership. In recent years both the countries have opened cultural centers in each other’s capital. Hindi is taught in two Universities in Seoul and Pusan. India has flourishing
departments of Korean Studies in Delhi University and Jawaharlal Nehru University.

There is strong will on both sides to deepen the existing strategic as well as economic partnership and the forthcoming Presidential visit would be an opportunity to chart a clear road map for the coming years.

The declaration of "Strategic Partnership” needs to be given more content. Already there is a regular Foreign Policy and Strategic Dialogue at the Vice Minister/Secretary Level. It would be useful for the National Security Advisors of the two countries to interact
regularly. As the security scenario in North – East Asia is a cause of some anxiety because of recent Chinese moves; this is a subject to be discussed at the highest levels. India would also be interested in seeing some easing in the present rather cold relations
between ROK and Japan – both being India’s strategic partners in East Asia.

The bilateral trade has shown a slight decline recently. This is a cause for worry. President Park is likely to take up the long – delayed POSCO project for early approvals. This proposed $12 billion investment for a 12 million tonne steel plant is Odisha has
been mired in environmental and land acquisition issues. President Park would also be keen on presenting the capacity of Korean companies in civil nuclear energy to the Indian sde. It may be recalled that a Civil Nuclear Cooperation agreement was signed between
the two countries in July 2011 during the visit of the then President Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil.

On our part, we need to reiterate ISRO’s interest in launching Korean satellites on our own launch vehicles. Entry of Indian IT companies into ROK’s software and IT enabled services market also needs to be pushed energetically. ROK needs to be more open to
allow approvals for Indian generic drugs for the Korean market. Long delays by Korean FDA to Indian agricultural products like mangoes and vegetables has been a longstanding complaint of India, which has not yet been addressed by the Korean authorities.

The widening trade gap between India and ROK is a cause of worry for India. It needs to be impressed upon the visiting dignitary that ROK must be as open to products and services from India, as India has been to Korean white goods, automobiles and equipment.

Korea also needs to enter India’s burgeoning infrastructure sector as an investor. Korean companies like DOOSAN in power, Hyundai Rotem in urban transport and Samsung C&E for construction are already active in the Indian market. They need to upgrade their relationship
with India from a seller – buyer relationship to a long term investor. Korean investment in India’s infrastructure sector needs to be pushed and encouraged.

Happily, there are no significant bilateral issues between India and ROK. Both the countries are vibrant democracies with open economies. They share a worldview to ensure peace and tranquility in East Asia. Both the countries are working together to foster
a peaceful international environment conducive to economic growth. The forthcoming visit of the new ROK President would be an opportunity for her to appreciate India’s immense economic and strategic potential. President Park’s discussions with the Indian leadership
would be an occasion to reaffirm the commitment of the two countries to continually deepen this close friendship.

(*Ambassador (Retd.) Skand Tayal was India’s former Ambassador to the Republic of Korea. He has recently authored a book titled "India and Republic of Korea: Engaged Democracies”. He is currently a visiting professor at Delhi
University and can be reached at skandtayal@hotmail.com.)
]]>10/01/2014 12:03:30MEA Adminhttps://mea.gov.in/in-focus-article.htm?22725/President+Park+Gyunhyes+forthcoming+State+Visit+to+India
MEA2272522455The Commonwealth: Old Links, New TiesBy Archis Mohan

The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting or CHOGM is scheduled to be held in Colombo from November 15 to 17. It is only the second instance of the CHOGM Summit taking place in South Asia. The subcontinent comprises over two-thirds of the Commonwealth's
population.The CHOGM Summit is where the Commonwealth leaders meet once every two years to discuss global and Commonwealth issues, and reach consensus on future policies and initiatives. The 2013 Colombo CHOGM will be the 22nd edition of the event.

The 53 Commonwealth heads of government - and not heads of state as Queen Elizabeth is recognised the head of the Commonwealth - meet at a time the organisation faces renewed questions about its relevance.

A view of the eighth CHOGM in Nassau on October 16, 1985Commonwealth an uneasy history

The Commonwealth has its roots in the colonial paradigm of the 19th Century. The first Conference of British and colonial prime ministers was held in 1887, and periodically thereafter. It later led to the founding of the Imperial Conferences in 1911 and the
association was named the British Commonwealth in the 1920s. At the time it was a consultative group of the six 'white' self-governing dominions of the British Empire - the United Kingdom, South Africa, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and Ireland. Owing allegiance
to the British Crown was a prerequisite for a membership.

The late-1940s with colonies like India gaining independence could have led to the demise of the association, or the restriction of its members to the mono-ethnic white only Anglo-Saxon association. At one point in time in 1948 this indeed looked a distinct
possibility when British politicians allowed republican Ireland to walk out of the British Commonwealth as the latter demanded a change in the organisation's basic tenet regarding allegiance to the crown. The British Commonwealth refused Burma entry after
it declared itself a republic. Myanmar is the only former British colony that is still not a member of the Commonwealth.

But the prospect of losing India, the jewel in the crown, was a pain that the British were unwilling to endure. India was adamant that it would become a republic in 1950 as decided by its Constituent Assembly. India, under Nehru, was also conscious of advantages
of joining the Commonwealth. Nehru said in 1948 that there was "great scope for the Commonwealth...its very strength lies in its flexibility and its complete freedom". It was hoped that the Commonwealth may become a third force by remaining independent of
either the American or Soviet blocs.

The Commonwealth PMs met in 1949 to adopt the 'London Declaration' based on Nehru's formula which agreed that all member countries would be "freely and equally associated". It also meant the adjective 'British' was junked. The declaration stated the Commonwealth
members were "free and equal members of the Commonwealth of Nations, freely co-operating in the pursuit of peace, liberty and progress”.

India also played a key role in making the Commonwealth attractive to the newly liberated African nations. It was India's lead that made newly independent African countries to shed inhibitions about joining an organisation that their former colonial masters
still controlled. But soon by their sheer numbers these countries made the Commonwealth a platform to battle racial discrimination.

All those who question the relevance of the Commonwealth need only to look at how the non-white member countries of the organisation used it to fight apartheid. These countries ensured South Africa's sporting isolation through their Gleneagles Agreement which
forced South Africa out of the Commonwealth in the early 1960s. South Africa returned to the Commonwealth in 1990 but only after giving up apartheid as its state policy.

The organisation faced another hiccup in 1972 when the newly independent Bangladesh joined the Commonwealth. Pakistan, which along with India was one of the founding members, protested this and withdrew from the Commonwealth. The association didn't blink at
losing its second most populous member. Pakistan joined back in 1989.

In later years, the Commonwealth has taken uncompromising stance on the issue of human rights and democracy. Nigeria, Pakistan, Fiji and Zimbabwe have been suspended in the recent past for human rights violations or overthrow of elected governments. Nigeria,
Fiji and Pakistan are back as members.

In recent years, Mozambique, Rwanda and Cameroon have become the latest members of the Commonwealth. In 2011, South Sudan also requested membership. Interestingly, neither Rwanda nor Mozambique has had any administrative association with the former British
colonial empire. The entry of Mozambique required an amendment in the Commonwealth's membership guidelines.

Currently, the Commonwealth has some of the world's smallest states as its members, like Tuvalu with a population of 10,000. Thirty two of its 53-members are small states. It is one of the Commonwealth's strengths to provide a direct interaction and platform
for cooperation and technical assistance to these small states from the Pacific islands and the Caribbean by larger member states like India.

Structure

Dr.Manmohan Singh, then Finance Minister, represented India at the CHOGM Summit in Cyprus,
1993
The year 1965 marked a watershed in the Commonwealth with the setting up of the Commonwealth Secretariat in London. It is the main intergovernmental agency to manage the affairs of the association like organising ministerial meetings, etc. The establishment
of the secretariat meant that the monopoly of the original six white members of the association was further eroded with many diplomats from across the Commonwealth's non-white members coming to manage the organisation. The Commonwealth is represented by the
secretariat at the UN General Assembly as an observer.

The secretariat is headed by the Commonwealth Secretary-General. India's Kamalesh Sharma is the current and also the first Indian to be the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth. He was elected to the post in 2008. He is into his second term. The Secretary-General
is elected by Commonwealth heads of government for a maximum of two four year terms. The secretary general is assisted by two deputy secretaries-general. Canadian Arnold Smith was the first secretary-general (1965-75), followed by Guyana's Shridath Ramphal
(1975-90), Nigerian Emeka Anyaoku (1990-99) and Don McKinnon of New Zealand (2000-08).

In 1971, the CHOGM process was set up and the meetings of the Commonwealth heads of governments, which until then only took place in the UK, travelled out of London. The first CHOGM was held in Singapore in 1971.

The Commonwealth has no written constitution, members reach decisions through consultations. It believes "the best democracies are achieved through partnerships - of governments, business, and civil society" and that "beyond the ties of history, language and
institutions, members are united through the association’s values of: democracy, freedom, peace, the rule of law and opportunity for all".

The Commonwealth agreed upon these values at the CHOGM in Singapore in 1971. The 14 points Singapore Declaration dedicated the members to the principles of world peace, liberty, human rights and equality. These principles were reaffirmed and made enforceable
at the Harare CHOGM in 1991 through the Harare Declaration.

The Commonwealth Ministerial Acton Group (CMAG), a rotating group of nine foreign ministers constituted in 1995, is responsible for protecting these values and assessing the nature of any infringement. It can suspend or recommend to heads of government to expel
a member state.

The CHOGMs are the marquee events of the Commonwealth. A CHOGM has a two tier format - a) Executive Sessions, where the the heads of government interact in a more formal manner and they make statements, and are accompanied by ministers or officials, and (b)
a Retreat, where the heads of government interact informally with their counterparts without the presence of any aides. This 'retreat' is a unique element of CHOGMs which was later adopted at SAARC Summits as well.

India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was a great champion of the cause of the Commonwealth. It may not be an exaggeration to say that if not for Nehru the modern Commonwealth, as we know it today, may have never come into existence.

India, the Commonwealth's largest member state, has once hosted CHOGM. New Delhi was the venue for the seventh CHOGM Summit under the then PM Indira Gandhi's leadership in 1983. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh attended the CHOGM Summits in Malta (2005), Uganda
(2007) and Trinidad and Tobago (2009). Vice President M. Hamid Ansari represented India at the last CHOGM in Perth in 2011.

Group photograph of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of Britain with the Heads of the Governments
of the Commonwealth countries during CHOGM in New Delhi on November 23, 1983
India is the fourth largest contributor to the Commonwealth budget but has played an important role in the Commonwealth's important landmarks, like setting up of its secretariat in 1965, the Singapore Declaration of 1971, Harare Declaration of 1991 and establishing
the Ministerial Action Group in 1995. India's signal contribution, however, has been to provide solidarity to African member countries to fight apartheid.

As the then foreign secretary Ranjan Mathai said in 2011 India believes it has a natural partnership with the Commonwealth as it is a community of English speaking nations, all of whom have a common legal system and the focus on South-South cooperation through
the Commonwealth has been very effectively managed and used.

Indira Gandhi & Commonwealth Secretary General S.S.Ramphal receiving Heads of the Governments
of Commonwealth countries at Vigyan Bhavan before the inauguration of CHOGM in New Delhi on Nov 23,1983
Over the years, India has found the Commonwealth useful as a forum to look after the interests of the people of Indian origin living abroad, for example Fiji. The South Pacific island with a substantial population of Indian origin people witnessed military
coups in 1987 and 2000 to overthrow elected governments headed by people of Indian origin. On both occasions, the Commonwealth threw out Fiji from the association. Most countries with people of Indian origin are also members of the Commonwealth.

Inside view of Vigyan Bhavan on the opening day of CHOGM in New Delhi on November 23, 1983
But there is lot more that not only India but some of the Commonwealth's other important members like the UK can do to reinvigorate the organisation.

A recent book 'Old Links and New Ties: Power and Persuasion in an Age of Networks'by David Howell, former minister for the Commonwealth in the current David Cameron government, argues for Britain to engage and re-energise
the Commonwealth. Howell says the Commonwealth, with its old cultural links and shared history, offers Britain an opportunity to redefine its role in the new order where states from Asia, Africa and Latin America have come to wield increasing power and influence.

Former Indian foreign secretary Krishnan Srinivasan made a similar plea to Indian foreign policy minders in his essay'India and the Commonwealth' published in 'Indian Foreign Policy: Challenges and Opportunities' in 2007. Srinivasan,the
Commonwealth deputy secretary general from 1995 to 2002, said "as a founding member of the modern Commonwealth and with 60 per cent of the organisation's total population, India should be able to exercise great leverage and influence over the Commonwealth's
entire scope of activity".Srinivasan argued that India should invest more of its interest and time in the Commonwealth because "above all, in the Commonwealth, when India speaks, everyone listens. This is by no means the case in the UN or NAM."

The ASEM (Asia-Europe Meeting) foreign ministers will gather in New Delhi on November 11 and 12 with an agenda more ambitious than any the 17-year-old grouping has had on its table since it was founded in 1996.

Its challenge, to paraphrase External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid's succinct speech at the last ASEM Summit meeting in Vientiane in 2012, being how to preserve the grouping's informality as the only of its kind dialogue forum to discuss a wide gamut of
issues between Asia and Europe but also reinvigorate the platform to achieve tangible results.

Observers of international politics the world over would keenly track the discussions at the 11th ASEM Foreign Ministers Meeting (ASEM FMM11) to see if Asia and Europe can come together to revitalise the forum and make it a more result oriented platform without
taking away from its intrinsic democracy. The meeting is expected to pave the path to an ASEM that its partners want to emerge re-strengthened at its next summit meeting in Brussels in 2014, and as it approaches its 20th anniversary celebrations in 2016.

The ASEM currently has 51 partners.It should be "These include 49 Asian and European countries and two International Organisations - the ASEAN Secretariat and the European Commission". It is the only Asia-Europe region-to-region platform to discuss policy dialogue
on political, economic, social and cultural issues. It has, therefore, also been termed the "new Silk Road" between the two continents.

The ASEM, unlike most other regional groupings, has no secretariat. Its only physical institution is the Singapore based Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF) that works to promote mutual understanding and cooperation between Asia and Europe through people to people
exchanges, cultural contacts and seminars on the subjects of mutual political and economic interest.

The ASEM, in the absence of a permanent secretariat, relies heavily on regular meetings between its stakeholders. The ASEM Summit meetings take place once in two years where the leaders agree upon an agenda to be implemented in the interregnum. The next ASEM
Summit meeting, its 10th, is scheduled to be held in Brussels in 2014.

ASEM is characterised by its informality as an open forum based on interactive sessions where all issues of mutual interest can be raised. The forum allows for putting of a multi-dimensionality of issues on the discussion table. ASEM's basic tenet is an emphasis
on equal partnership with no "aid-based" relationship between members. It focuses not just on high level meetings but also people to people contacts

However, many members believe some of the grouping's strengths like its openness to take up myriad issues has hindered efforts to find common grounds which can then be pursued in the shape of policy frameworks. But that is in no way an indication that members
doubt the current and future relevance of the forum as seen in the increase of members from 26 in 1996 to 51 currently.

A Fresh Approach

In this backdrop, ASEM partners have supported host India's suggestion that the forum required a fresh approach for restructuring and reorienting its discussions. India's suggestions to reinvigorate the grouping have been received well by the ASEM members at
the ASEM Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM) at Delhi NCR from September 3-5, 2013.

The SOM started the process of identifying the set of issues, wherein ASEM members would form smaller groups of five-six countries as co-sponsors to specific initiatives for enhancing cooperation between the ASEM countries. This new format of cooperation would
also add more relevance to the theme for ASEM FMM11, "ASEM: Bridge to Partnership for Growth and Development” that was proposed by India and welcomed by rest of the ASEM members. These initiatives, to be finalised at an SOM meeting on November 9-10 in Delhi,
would then be announced at the ASEM FMM11 and will await the nod from ASEM leaders at the next ASEM Summit Meeting.

India and ASEM

Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh at the 7th ASEM Summit, Beijing, 2008
India joined ASEM in 2007 attended its seventh Summit in Beijing in 2008 where Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh led the Indian delegation. India has come to be an important member of the grouping and plays a significant role in the functioning of ASEF. The
eighth ASEM Summit was held in Brussels on 4-5 October 2010 where Vice President M. Hamid Ansari led the Indian delegation.

External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid represented India at the ninth ASEM Summit held in Vientiane, Lao PDR from November 5-6, 2012. In his speech, Mr. Khurshid set out India's hopes and expectations from ASEM. He said ASEM needed a more focussed approach
towards terrorism, maritime security, issues of food and energy security.

External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid being welcomed by Lao PDR's Deputy
PM and Foreign Minister Dr. Thonglun Sisoulith at the gala dinner hosted by Lao PDR's President during the 9th ASEM Summit in Vientiane in November 2012
Mr. Khurshid said ASEM had the "unique capacity" to work on areas of relevance for developing countries and emerging markets and work to make the global framework for economic governance more effective given its varied participation consisting of emerging market
economies, developed and developing countries. "It is here that ASEM as a forum for dialogue and cooperation between Asia and Europe remains fundamentally relevant and can add substantive value," said the minister.

The Minister also underlined how ASEM needed to "to orient itself definitively in a direction that facilitates, accelerates and makes possible such cooperation. This, to my mind, is perhaps the most relevant issue on the agenda of ASEM, i.e. "The Future Direction
of ASEM". He said the forums partners should "accelerate its evolution towards making ASEM the inter-Continental bridge that it was meant to be, bringing together the strengths and capacities across our countries to contribute to global growth and development,
peace and stability".

An Economic Bridge between Europe and Asia

Europe faced an economic tailspin when ASEM heads of states met in Beijing in 2008. European countries had then requested Asia to help the Eurozone economies through the financial crisis. Asia responded. European exports to Asia helped Europe come out of the
crisis. Five years hence the economic situation is much different. The ASEM foreign ministers would meet in Delhi at a time when the industrialised Europe has witnessed better growth compared to emerging markets like India and ASEAN countries whose economies
have slowed down. It is time that Europe pitches in to help economic recovery in emerging markets.

This is where ASEM would need to play a role in bringing business leaders and policy makers from the two sides to have regular exchanges, particularly before the 2014 Summit. These meetings have remained ignored in the last few years. According to ASEM website,
senior ASEM economic officials last met in Rotterdam in 2006.

The two sides will also look at concluding negotiations on Free Trade Agreements. A comprehensive EU-South Korea FTA is in place since 2011. Negotiations with countries like Japan, Singapore, India, Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand are at various stages. Meanwhile,
Asian countries are busy putting into place the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) linking all leading economies in Asia.The EU and Asian members of ASEM have a current trade of nearly Euros 900 billion. European companies are leading investors
in Asia. In 2010, 17.2% of EU outward investment went to Asia.

According to the ASEM website, in 2012 Asia's share of all EU imports was 29.8% and 21.4% of exports. Four Asian countries are amongst the EU’s top ten trading partners, with China (12.5%) at the very top, followed by Japan (3.4%), India (2.2%), South Korea
(2.2%) and Singapore (1.5%).

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MEA2240722393Time to go the Samba way to enhance tradeTime to go the Samba way to enhance trade* By Huma Siddiqui*

Indialines up a series of high-level visits to Latin American countries

Looking to widen business arrangements with Latin American countries and increase trade with the region to $25 billion by 2015, India has lined up a series of high-level visits over this month and next, and is offering sops to exporters to explore markets in
the continent.

According to External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid,"India and Latin America have a large scope and potential to cooperate in the fields of energy, education and several other fields.” On the importance of the region, he said, "Latin America is something
we need to work on. We just have not had enough bilateral visits. They have made more visits than we have and we need to reciprocate that.”

There will be important visits by Indian dignitaries to the region. External Affairs Minister was in Brazil last week to co-chair the 6th India- Brazil Joint Commission Meeting (JCM) with his counterpartLuiz Alberto Figueiredo in Brasilia and to meet the heads
of Indian missions. Vice-President Hamid Ansari, will embark on an official visit to Peru and Cuba soon. Commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma is in the process of finalising the agenda for a visit to Chile, Peru, Mexico and Spain, next month.

External Affairs Minister with his Brazilian counterpart Luiz
Alberto Figueiredo Machado at Joint Commission Meeting in Brasilia October 16, 2013 Brazil's trade relations with India have witnessed a ten-fold increase in the last decade and expected to reach $ 15 billion by 2015, with exports of $5.04 billlion
and imports of $5.58 billion – close to 10 times increase in the last ten years.

A diplomat in the Indian embassy in Brazil said, "These numbers include $ 2 billion in export of diesel and $3.4 billion Indian import of crude oil. So, in 2012, $5.4 billion accounts for oil trade out of total $10.6 billion - over 50 per cent.And, 76 per cent
of Indian imports from Brazil were crude oil, sugar and soya."

He said "The good news is the increase in pharmaceutical, fertilizers and chemicals exports to Brazil from India which together is now close to $ 1 billion. Auto components and electrical and mechanical equipments have also seen good growth, so have textiles
and fibres exports. While oil trade has different dynamics, rest of the products have seen good growth."

Peru has issued Joint Issue stamps depicting Machu Picchu mountains and
Taj Mahal, the 7 wonders of the respective countries, in March 2013 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of establishment of Diplomatic Relations between India and Peru. In fact, Latin American countries, such as Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Colombia
and Peru, are seeking to diversify trade with India by cooperating in technology, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, mining and energy sectors.

India's trade with Peru is worth over a billion dollars over the last few years and being an economically liberal country, with a global ease of business ranking of 43, Peru holds huge potential for enhancing investments from the current levels. Cradles of
civilization, and economies that grow at rates higher than the world average, both India and Peru are opening their doors to a Free Trade Agreement (FTA), which seems feasible and necessary.

Both the countries are currently celebrating 50 years of the establishment of diplomatic relations (1963 – 2013). Since the President of Peru's visit to India in 1987, there has been an addition of economic and business elements to the earlier cordial relations
between the nations. Since then, there has been a constant series of visits and exchanges to strengthen this bond. Technological advancement in India with increased bilateral trade further adds to India's importance in Peru.

When Vice-President Ansari visits Cuba and Peru in late October on India’s highest diplomatic visit to either nation since Prime Minister Singh’s 2006 visit to Havana, India is likely to announce a gift of `Made in India’ buses to that country. While trade
and economic opportunities are at the heart of India’s delayed but increasingly aggressive outreach to Latin America, it is gestures like the buses that New Delhi is counting on to catalyse that journey.

The Indian government is in discussion with local companies here to supply a fleet of 100 buses as a gift, and will offer several hundred more buses for sale to fill that gap, officials said.Indiais keen to restore its economic relevance for Cuba, and gain
more than the toehold it currently enjoys in much of Latin America.

In fact, reeling under severe US financial sanctions, Cuba has sought India's help in exploiting its vast natural resource base and as well as enhanced economic cooperation with it and other BRICS countries.

India's trade with Cuba is insignificant, at $ 40 million approx, comprising of minerals, chemicals and light machinery. It is a very restricted and protected economy, due to financial sanctions from the West. However, due to mutual support which India and
Cuba offer to each other at forum like UN, companies like ONGC Videsh are investing there for securing India's energy needs. In addition, due to strong cultural relations, Cuba, of late, has been a destination for Indian film industry and there is co-operation
also in the field of biotechnology.

Jorge Heine, former ambassador to India says: "The last decade has seen a sea change in Indo-Latin American relations. The number of LAC embassies in New Delhi grew from 12 in 2003 to 18 in 2008, and the Indian ones in the region from seven to 14. While only
10 presidential visits from Latin America to India took place from 1947 to 2000, a dozen did so since 2000. Trade is one-tenth of that with China, but it may nearly triple, to $70 billion, in 2015, part of increased South-South trade and investment flows.”

Views expressed are the personal opinions of the author.

*Ms. Huma Siddiqui is Senior Correspondent at The Financial Express. She can be reached at huma_siddiqui_us@yahoo.com
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MEA2239322360India and China: Old Ties, New HorizonsBy Manish Chand*

It’s poised to be a unique year in the history of India-China relations.This is the first time in more than five decades the leaders of the two countries would have visited each other’s capitals in the same year,underlining the resolve of the two rising Asian
powers to keep their relations on an even keel despite a host of challenges. Last time, the two-way visits in the same year happened in 1954 when the then Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai visited Beijing and New Delhi respectively.

It’s also a unique year in so far as it underlines the triumph of diplomacy over hysteria and rhetorical sabre-rattling. The relations between India and China were put under stress this summer due to issues arising out of an un-demarcated frontier, but thanks
to deft diplomacy and a new realism in India-China relations, the two giant Asian neighbours went a pace with the daunting task of building bridges and seizing fresh opportunities to impart a fresh momentum to their relationship that promises to bring manifold
benefits to their 2.5 billion people.

This multi-faceted relationship, bristling with promises and challenges,will be in focus when India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will be in Beijing Oct 22-24. The visit will build upon substantive outcomes of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang’s trip to New Delhi
May 19-21 that saw the two sides sign eight pacts… Premier Li’s trip to New Delhi, the first overseas destination chosen by the Chinese premier after taking charge of Asia’s largest economy, was designed to send the message that China’s new leadership was
resolved to carry forward the momentum in bilateral ties which have been steadily and incrementally transformed over the years.

Partners, not rivals

Defying the construction of India and China as rivals and competitors,the last decade has seen seven two-way visits by the leaders of the two countries. The visits included: Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee (2003),Premier Wen Jiabao (2005, 2010), President
Hu Jintao [2006), Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (2008) and Premier Li Keqiang (2013). There were also two visits linked to BRICS summits: Manmohan Singh visited Sanya, China in 2011and President Hu travelled to New Delhi in 2012 and one visit to Beijing for
the ASEM Summit in October 2008.

Milestones

There were defining milestones along the way, which telescoped multi-pronged acceleration in bilateral ties. The two countries established a new mechanism of special representatives to resolve the boundary dispute during Vajpayee’s visit in 2003 and took a
pivotal step to firm up guiding principles and political parameters to resolve this decades-old issue from the higher strategic vision of their relations in the 21st century. The special representatives have held 16 rounds of talks and are currently in Stage
II of the negotiations, which entails reaching a mutually agreed framework to demarcate the boundary.

Peace Dividend

The boundary dispute and differences over some issues did not, however,prevent the two rising stars on the global stage for setting new benchmarks for their economic ties. Bilateral trade has soared from merely $3 billion in 2000 to over $70 billion in 2012.
During the visit of Chinese Premier Wen to India in December 2010, the two sides jointly set a bilateral trade target of US$ 100 billion for 2015, and latest reports suggest they are on course to achieve this important milestone.

Taking a long-range view, the two countries have also launched a strategic economic dialogue for coordination on macro-economic issues and the sharing of relevant developmental experiences in eradicating poverty and creating sustainable urbanisation.

In the military sphere, the two Asian powers are now looking to build greater trust and intensify interaction between their top military brass.India and China held their first counter-terror exercise entitled‘Hand-to-Hand’ in Kunming in 2010 and are poised
to hold another round later next year. The defence ministers of the two countries have Met several times including earlier this year and are looking for new ways forenhanced military-to-military interaction.

New model of India-China ties

Against this backdrop, India and China have over the years forged a new model of relationship between the two ancient civilisations and rising Asian powers. This model envisages a multi-track approach of engagement which entails not letting complex issues like
the boundary question affect progress in other critical areas of bilateral relations like trade and investment and closer cooperation in the international arena. Currently,the two countries have established numerous dialogue mechanisms straddling diverse sectors.

In the international area, India and China have banded together on issue-based coalitions on a host of cross-cutting issues. Their coordination and consultation in international climate change negotiation shave been instrumental in protecting the interests
of developing countries.In multilateral fora like BRICS, India and China speak in the same voice on resolving difficult issues like Iran and Syria through dialogue and diplomacy.

Culture and Creativity

With so much at stake in building a cooperative relationship, India and China are now looking to enhance people-to-people contacts and leverage their cultural ties going back centuries to provide greater popular support for their relationship. From the spread
of Buddhism to China a few centuries ago and the popularity of Bollywood films like Three Idiots in China more recent times, there has been a constant cultural intermingling over the centuries. And Chinese food, Calligraphy and the Chinese language are finding
new devotees in India every day.

The Road Ahead: Challenges

This picture of mutually assuring cooperation should not, however, lullus into complacency: there are challenges and landmines ahead if some of the sensitive issues are not handled properly.

First and foremost, the two countries must prioritise maintaining peace and tranquillity along the border. From India’s point of view, this is of utmost importance as incursions, arising out of un-delineated frontier,fuel suspicions and deprives the relationship
of the much-needed public support. Against this backdrop, the ongoing efforts to sign a Border Defence Cooperation Agreement during Manmohan Singh’s visit to China could prove to be a game-changer. The border defence pact seeks to coalesce the existing confidence-building
measures along the Line of Actual Control under an umbrella agreement that will also provide for additional measures like intensifying interactions between border personnel to avert any crisis triggered by incursions. Secondly, the issue of widening trade
imbalance needs to be addressed upfront. India is hoping that China will unveil some concrete steps at the forthcoming talks that will create a degree of equilibrium in the economic relationship. If China goes ahead with granting access to Indian IT and pharma
companies, that will have a cascading effect on economic ties. On the economic front, there are some positive developments: China looks poised to scale up investment in India and participate in special business parks.

Thirdly, India and China should build upon the sub-regional dialogues they have launched on West Asia, Africa and Central Asia.

Fourth, there is the challenge of minimising misunderstandings and building stronger public support for scaling up this relationship.Clearly, there is a lot going on for the two Asian neighbours, but sadly this is not reflected in media projection, which tends
to portray the two countries as rivals and competitors. Building knowledge and information bridge is the way to go. With this vision on mind, senior journalists and opinion-makers held their first media forum in New Delhi September 16 and firmed up a road
map for enhanced interaction and conversation between the media of the two countries. The focus was on clearing misperceptions and building a more conducive atmosphere for the bilateral relationship.

With such pioneering initiatives, the two countries are headed for a more constructive and rounded relationship in the future. The visits by the Chinese premier to India in May and the Indian prime minister to Beijing Oct 23-24 are expected to reaffirm a soaring
vision of an Asian century which is marked by close cooperative relations between the two Asian giants. As India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has been stressing relentlessly, there is enough room for India and China to growth together in a renascent Asia.
Can the leaders of India and China seize the initiative and unfurl the dreams of their two and a half billion people?Only time will tell, but going by recent trends India and China are heading for more interesting times, as they create a new model of peace
fulco-existence and co-prosperity.

The views expressed are personal views of the author

(Manish Chand is Editor-in-Chief of India Writes, www.indiawrites.org, an online magazine and journal focused on international affairs, emerging powers, China and Africa).

Barring a few years in the last decade of the last century, India and Russia have been having very close and special relationship for past over four decades. Since 2000, the revitalized Indo-Russian strategic partnership has gone from strength to strength,
thanks mainly to the annual summits mechanism started by the two countries in that year.

Russia was the first country to have the institutionalized mechanism of annual summits with India in each other’s capitals alternately. For India, Russia remained the only country for almost six years to have this mechanism in place. In 2006 Japan too started
the practice of annual summits with India.

Till now, Russia and Japan remain the only two countries with which India has an institutionalized mechanism of holding annual summits. Now Indonesia too has been added to this list after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s bilateral visit to Indonesia (October
11-12, 2013), though the vital difference is that the heads of two governments would not necessarily be traveling to each other’s capitals but using the opportunity of meeting each other at multilateral events at third venues.

Indo-Russian bilateral relationship is a corner stone of foreign policies of the two countries and this fact has been emphasized time and again by top leaders from both sides. The mind-boggling diversity in Indo-Russian engagement is rare in international politics.
Their cooperation covers so many diverse fields as defence, energy, space, trade, investment, infrastructure, banking, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, science and technology, culture and in various world bodies and multilateral fora.

The intense and substantive engagement between India and Russia is set to get a fillip when the two sides hold their 14th annual summit in Moscow on October 21. Several bilateral agreements, many of them big ones, are expected to be signed during the 14th summit.

In fact, energy and defence are the two biggest success stories of Indo-Russian ties, though there are issues from both sides that demand early resolution. Let us have a quick sector-by-sector run down to get the latest picture of Indo-Russian relations.

Energy

Arguably the most promising sunrise sector in the Indo-Russian bilateral engagements today, the upcoming summit is likely to be dominated by various proposals from the two sides on energy cooperation. Kudankulam’s third and fourth units, Indian participation
in Yamal and the TAPI pipeline are expected to figure prominently on the agenda when Manmohan Singh holds talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India [TAPI] gas pipeline project achieved a major mile stone in July 2013 with the signing of the Contract on Sales and Purchase of the gas between Turkmenistan and Afghanistan. India is upbeat about the project and rightly
views it as a game changer in energy security. India is eagerly looking forward to implementation of the project by 2017. The project will have huge diplomatic and strategic positives as it would be a first project to bring India and Pakistan together as stakeholders
in the stability and security of Afghanistan and will act as a very practical and pragmatic tool for improving the India-Pakistan relationship itself.

Defence

Despite Russia losing out on several defence deals, Russia stays on top of the list of suppliers with $16 billion in orders. India’s defence imports amounted to $38 billion for the three-year period April 1, 2010 to March 31, 2013. Moreover, Russia’s current
defence portfolio in India is worth $20 billion which is enough to keep the Russian arms industry busy for years.

Russia’s Ambassador to India Alexander Kadakin told Voice of Russia in an interview two months ago that the future of the defence relationship between the long-term allies is in the sharing of modern technologies and joint production. He downplayed Russia losing
several Indian defence tenders but stressed the importance of the fact that Russia has been transferring modern technology to India like no other nation has been.

"Tenders are tenders, but no country in the world shares with India the most secret and confidential things that it possesses. Can you name another country, besides Russia, that would honestly hand technologies to India? There is no such country. This is the
fundamental difference between our military-technical cooperation with India and its cooperation with other states,” Kadakin told VoR on August 14.

Trade

This is an area of concern for the two governments as the current bilateral Indo-Russian trade is pegged at $ 11 billion which is way below the potential considering the extremely close relations between the two sides. Both the sides, however, are optimistic
of achieving the $ 20 billion trade target by 2015. India is Russia’s 18th largest trading partner and jumped 5 positions up last year.

Science and Technology

NIS GLONASS signed an agreement with India on October 11, 2013 to supply its personal tracking systems that could enhance the safety and security of women, children and old-aged people in the country. Besides, this will help both countries to deal with logistics,
navigation and traffic and will also result in safe cities and ensure appropriate law and order. Initially, this system is going to be put in place in Delhi but in the near future India wants to use it all over the country for traffic management and other
uses and for disaster management. This agreement will also open up avenues for India and Russia for setting up joint ventures in the field of technology like they produce together BrahMos missile. Incidentally, the two countries already have huge collaboration
in avionics.

Information Technology

The IT sector is another key area where the two sides are engaged in deepening their cooperation. The Indian initiative in this regard is their proposal that the Indian software and the Russian hardware should be combined. The Russians are on board and it is
a matter of time when this idea is translated into reality.

Pharmaceuticals

Russia is reshaping its pharmaceutical sector as part of the Pharma2020 concept which has named manufacturing of Indian generic drugs in the Moscow region as a priority of Russia-India cooperation. This promises to provide newer avenues for Indian drug manufacturers
and exporters to expand their business in Russia. Incidentally, the Russian pharmaceutical market was pegged at $24.9 billion in 2012 and is expected to triple to $ 75 billion by 2020. This will be a golden opportunity for Indian companies to grow their business
in Russia.

Banking

Over the last 5 years, Russian banks in India have largely been financing defence deals and energy projects over the last five years. This is set to change significantly as the Indo-Russian bilateral trade, likely to be injected with several stimulus packages
and schemes by the two governments would open up other greener pastures for them. Currently three largest state-owned Russian banks are operating in India, including the JSC VTB Bank which was the first to open a representative office, which was subsequently
converted into a branch in New Delhi. VTB is now considering extending its presence in India by opening branches in Mumbai, Chennai and Ahmedabad. Besides, another part of VTB financial group, investment bank VTB Capital is planning to enter India in near
future. To support Russian companies coming to India, VTB is also pondering over the creation of an investment fund as entering any new market using only borrowed funds is difficult.

With so much at stake the fourteenth Annual Summit has all ingredients to make for a substantive and fruitful interaction between India and its steadfast friend and partner for over six decades.

(The views expressed above are the personal views of the author)

The writer is a New Delhi-based journalist-author and a strategic analyst who tweets @Kishkindha and can be reached at bhootnath004@yahoo.com.
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MEA2235422356Indo-Russian Trade Set for a Giant Leap with Focus on New Business AreasBy Rajeev Sharma*

The Indo-Russian bilateral trade will grow manifold within the next five
years, going by the two countries’ firm political will in exploring newer areas of doing business, including passenger
aircraft, extraction of gas from Arctic region, fertilizers, mining, metallurgy, Information
Technology and pharmaceuticals. Indian Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh said on October 18 evening that the
two countries are zeroing in on new areas for expanding and deepening Indo-Russian cooperation to boost bilateral
trade and specifically cited, in this context, the Arctic gas extraction. She said
ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL), which has already invested hugely in Sakhalin and Tomsk, is now keen on jointly exploring extraction
of gas with Russian companies.

Indian officials conversant with Indo-Russian negotiations on all these
subjects said the summit between Indian Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow will lay a solid base for giving a never-before thrust
to cooperation in these areas. The idea is that the current Indo-Russian bilateral trade
of $ 11 billion is far below the actual potential and the two sides should strive to achieve the target of $ 20 billion
by next year, one year ahead of the target date.

Passenger Aircraft

The two sides have hit upon some out-of-the-box ideas to put the bilateral
trade on upward trajectory, including producing Russian passenger aircraft for India in India to reduce costs by as
much as 40 per cent. A 95-seat passenger aircraft produced by Russians in India may
cost $ 20 million or even less. The two sides are having technical-level discussions on this currently which
will take a few weeks to conclude. The issue is expected to figure in Putin-Singh talks as well as the Joint Statement
after the talks but the deal cannot be signed at the upcoming summit as various technical
and financial issues are to be sorted out first. The matter was taken up for a thorough discussion at a meeting of
the India Russia Working group on Modernization and Industrial Cooperation in
Moscow on October 2. The two sides have affirmed their commitment to implement this idea as soon as possible.

The fact that the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) mentioned
this subject in a brief statement after the October 2 meeting underscores the seriousness with which the two sides
are pursuing the idea. "In the civil aviation sector, the Russian side expressed
interest in participation of the project for development and production of Indian passenger aircraft, and in the field
of aero engines manufacturing," the DIPP statement said. This
is the first time when the two sides will be cooperating in the field of construction of passenger aircraft. India
and Russia have been cooperating for half a century in production of military aircraft and
Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd has been building under license the Russian Su-30MKI strike warplanes in India.

The proposed Indo-Russian aeronautics agreement entails assembly of Russian
Sukhoi Superjet (SSJ) 100 and Irkut MS-21 passenger jets in India. Though Russia has been conducting negotiations
with Indian companies on the delivery of SSJ-100 since 2008, it is only now that this
proposal has acquired a sense of urgency as the Indian aviation sector is set to grow exponentially in the coming
few years.

Other Sunrise Sectors

India’s over-riding concern has been that while India has invested billions
of dollars in Russia, Russia’s total cumulative investment in India since 2000 has not even touched half a billion
dollars. This template is going to change drastically in the next few years. The
Russians are now actively considering investing in Delhi MumbaiIndustrial Corridor (DMIC), a $ 90 billion project with a target for completion
in 2017. The Russians are also exploring investment opportunities in railways and
automobile sectors.

From Indian viewpoint, New Delhi has already expressed interest in joint
development of coal fields and iron ore mines in Russia and production of cast iron from low grade iron ore. The
two countries have already identified as many as 15 high-value, high-tech projects for special attention for ministerial
supervision.Some of the prominent projects are as follows:· Establishment of India-Russian Joint venture with Hindustan Aeronautics
Ltd. (HAL) as joint centre of development the helicopters.· Production of Nitrogen Tetra Oxide for Space programme.· Possible future cooperation between MMTC and ALROSA for long term
supply of rough diamonds.· OVL’s prospects for further hydrocarbon collaboration with Russian
energy companies.· Joint project of Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited (RLL) and Government
of Yaroslavl region.· Participation of Russian companies in urea production in India
under new investment policy.· Plant construction for manufacturing butyl rubber with capacity
of 100000 tons per year at the production site of Reliance Industries in Jamnagar (India).

In a nutshell, India and Russia are confident of giving a massive boost
to their meager bilateral trade within a short span by focusing on new areas of cooperation. The two sides are well
aware of the fact that India’s trade with the United States has grown five times in last 13
years to the current figure of an impressive $ 100 billion. US Vice President Joe Biden has gone on record as saying
that the Indo-US trade can catapult bilateral trade to $ 500 billion if "right choices”
were made. The US has already opened up in a big way to India for increased cooperation in defence and nuclear energy
sectors, promising transfer of technology. The US has also offered to set up a 6000
MW nuclear plant in Gujarat with American reactors.

While these are comparatively new areas of cooperation between India and
the US, India and Russia have been closely working in these areas for decades. India has very close political relations
with Russia and the two sides are on the same page on almost all major international issues. The
question is when India and the US, which have had uneasy relations for decades in the past, can increase their bilateral
trade five times in 13 years, why India and Russia cannot do the same? Indo-Russianstrategic partnership has been in place for decades when the term ‘strategic
partnership’ had not gained currency. For past 13 years, the two sides have been having annual summits. The
brief answer to this question is: yes they can because where there is the (political) will, there is the way.---------

(The views expressed above are the personal views of the author)*Rajeev Sharma is a New Delhi-based journalist-author and a strategic analyst.
His Twitter handle is @Kishkindha.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is scheduled to attend the 11th ASEAN-India Summit and 8th East Asia Summit (EAS) in the Bruneian capital of Bandar Seri Begawan on 10 October 2013. The Prime Minister's hosts, the 10-member ASEAN, would expect New Delhi to continue
to play a role in the region that behoves India's economic size and strategic prowess.

The India-ASEAN relationship has entered its third decade. India became a sectoral partner of ASEAN in 1992, a dialogue partner in 1996 and a summit level partner at Phnom Penh in 2002. At the Bali Summit in 2003, India and the ASEAN signed the Instrument of
Accession to the treaty of Amity and Cooperation in South East Asia, a framework agreement on Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and a joint declaration for cooperation to combat international terrorism.

The Vientiane summit of 2004 was a milestone in India-ASEAN relations. The ASEAN-India Partnership for Peace, Progress and Shared Prosperity and the Plan of Action to implement it were finalised. The first plan of action was implemented from 2004-10. The second
plan of action for 2010-15 has been adopted and being implemented.

In December 2012, New Delhi hosted the India-ASEAN Commemorative Summit to mark 20-years of its association with the grouping and 10-years of its summit level partnership. It also marked the two decades of India's 'Look East Policy' and that of its economic
liberalisation process. The India-ASEAN relationship was elevated to a strategic partnership at the 2012 meeting. The leaders also adopted a vision statement or a blueprint for the future India-ASEAN cooperation.

The last two decades of India-ASEAN dialogue has led to a deepening of cooperation across the three pillars of their relationship - politico-military, economic and socio-cultural. The India-ASEAN dialogue currently has 26 inter-governmental mechanisms that
cover a wide spectrum of areas.

India's 20-year-old engagement of the ASEAN countries has made India's first PM Jawaharlal Nehru's words in the Discovery of India in 1944 prophetic. Nehru wrote: "The Pacific is likely to take the place of the Atlantic in the future as the nerve centre of
the world. Though not directly a Pacific state, India will inevitably exercise an important influence there. India will also develop as the centre of economic and strategic importance in a part of the world which is going to develop in the future."

As if gazing at a crystal ball, Nehru further wrote that "India will have to play a very great part in security problems of Asia and the Indian Ocean, more especially of the Middle East and South East Asia" and that "India is the pivot around which these problems
will have to be considered."

The developments of the last few years in the South East Asian and Far Eastern regions and the expectations that the ASEAN member countries have from India to provide leadership at a difficult period seem to confirm what Nehru saw clearly 70-years back. India
has been a source of strength for most ASEAN countries for its unequivocal stand on maritime disputes. India supports unimpeded rights of passage and other maritime rights in accordance with the international law. New Delhi has welcomed the decision to implement
the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea and that countries in the region adopt a code of conduct on the basis of consensus.

Prime Minister Singh's talks with other ASEAN leaders at Bandar Seri Begawan are expected to take forward the various facets of the strategic partnership, particularly in the trade sector. India and the ASEAN members have concluded negotiations on a Free Trade
Agreement in Services and Investments which is likely to be inked by this year-end. The negotiations on coming to a common ground on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership or RCEP have begun. Its first round was held in Brisbane in September this
year.

The above agreements are likely to increase the India-ASEAN trade. The total India-ASEAN trade increased by 37 percent in 2011-12 to reach US$ 79.3 billion, surpassing the trade target of US$ 70 billion by 2012. The target is to achieve trade worth $100 billon
by 2015 and $200 billion by 2022. But to put this success into context, China-ASEAN trade was US $100 billion way back in 2005 and now exceeds $400 billion.

In the past year, New Delhi has tried to fulfil some of the agenda of the vision statement signed in December 2012. The ASEAN-India Centre was inaugurated in New Delhi on 21 June 2013. It will be a resource centre for India-ASEAN strategic partnership. The
External Affairs Ministry is also setting up a separate ASEAN-India Trade and Investment Centre.

Another area of focus is improving land, sea and air connectivity. New Delhi has started the annual ASEAN Connectivity Coordinating Committee with a meeting in June this year. The India-Myanmar-Thailand trilateral highway is expected to be completed by 2016
and is expected to boost growth in India's northeast region.

India is also supporting the ASEAN Community which is to take shape by 2015 and a Drug-Free ASEAN by 2015. India and the ASEAN have regular people to people exchanges as well through programmes for ASEAN students, farmers, diplomats, media and strategic communities.

The Prime Minister will also attend the 8th East Asia Summit (EAS). The EAS was set up in 2005 when the then president of the Philippines Gloria Arroyo called upon the ASEAN to "embrace China, Japan, South Korea and India" in a larger grouping that may be better
able to "hold its own" in when negotiating with the US or the European Union.

The EAS, which later included Australia, New Zealand, the US and Russia as well, is a 'leaders led' forum for dialogue on broad strategic, geopolitical and economic issues of mutual interest and to engender peace, security, stability and economic prosperity
in the region. This year US President Barack Obama will have to skip the EAS because of domestic compulsions.

Prime Minister Singh will meet his Australian counterpart the newly elected Tony Abbott on the sidelines of the EAS. It is likely that India and Australia take forward their negotiations to agree to a civilian nuclear cooperation agreement that would enable
India to import Australian uranium. Australia has one third of the world's known reserves of uranium.

India will also table a Memorandum of Understanding on the creation of the Nalanda University at this year's EAS. The EAS has been supportive of the initiative. At Brunei India would begin the process of signing of the MoU with those countries which have completed
their internal approvals. India is also working with EAS member countries to augment collective capacity for disaster relief and rescue. India will push for greater discussion on the EAS Declaration on Connectivity that it adopted at its sixth summit as New
Delhi believes there is scope for greater cooperation among EAS members in this important area.

The leaders are expected to adopt the Declaration of the 8th East Asia Summit on Food Security.

Archis Mohan is a Delhi based journalist. He is foreign policy editor at
StratPost.com.

(The views expressed above are personal views of the writer)
]]>08/10/2013 15:23:13MEA Adminhttps://mea.gov.in/in-focus-article.htm?22297/India+and+the+ASEAN+A+Pivotal+Relationship
MEA2229722301India and Indonesia: Twins of a KindBy Archis Mohan

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is scheduled to pay a state visit to Indonesia from October 10 to 12. The visit will deepen the India and Indonesia strategic partnership that Prime Minister Singh and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono have nursed since
2005 to make New Delhi - Jakarta one of the most thriving bilateral relationships of the region.

It would also in all likelihood be the Indian PM's last meeting with Yudhoyono as the President of his country. 'SBY', as Yudhoyono is popularly known in Indonesia, would step down from presidency in early 2014 after having completed his two terms. Indonesia
is scheduled to elect its new President in April 2014, around the time that India is likely to hold its general elections.

This, therefore, becomes an important visit for both Singh and Yudhoyono to complete unfinished tasks, particularly in the sectors of trade, security, maritime and defence cooperation. It has been under their stewardship that India-Indonesia inked a strategic
partnership agreement in 2005. Both had taken over the reins of respective governments within months of each other. Singh was sworn in as the Prime Minister in May 2004 while Yudhoyono defeated Megawati Sukarnoputri in a presidential election in October of
that year.

The two leaders recognised the potential of the India-Indonesia bilateral relations and have worked steadfastly to achieve their vision of closer ties. Prime Minister Singh visited Jakarta in April 2005 for the 50th anniversary of the Afro-Asian Bandung Conference.
Yudhoyono visited New Delhi in November 2005 where the two PMs inked the strategic partnership agreement. The India-Indonesia bilateral trade increased five times since the inking of the strategic partnership agreement to US $20 billion in 2012-13. Bilateral
trade has hit a trough because of the global financial situation but is expected to meet the target of US $ 25 billion by 2015.

Both Singh and Yudhoyono have ensured the vibrancy in New Delhi-Jakarta bilateral relations. Prime Minister Singh has visited Indonesia twice, including in 2005 and 2011. Similarly, Yudhoyono has been to New Delhi thrice, including in November 2005, as the
Chief Guest for Republic Day in January 2011 and later to attend the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit in December 2012. Yudhoyono's 2011 visit was significant as Indonesia and India signed several important agreements on security, trade and investments, connectivity
and cultural cooperation.

Since 2005, Singh and Yudhoyono have synergised a relationship that has historical roots. Hindu epics Ramayana and Mahabharata continue to be popular in Indonesia. The influence of ancient Indian culture can be seen in Indonesia's culture and architecture.

The Buddhist Borobudur and Prambanan Shiva temple complexes, both constructed in the 9th century, are examples of the once thriving cultural and trade relations between Indonesia and India. The word for soldier in Bahasa is kshatriya. In later centuries, merchants
and missionaries took Islam from India to Indonesia to give the religion in that region a distinctive blend of Sufi mysticism.

Today, Indonesia is home to nearly 13 percent of the world's Muslim population, which makes it the most populous Muslim nation on Earth. India at 10.9 percent has the third largest Muslim population in the world. Also, India is the world's largest democracy
and Indonesia's its third largest.

India has tried to keep cultural links alive with organising frequent cultural exchanges through its cultural centres in Jakarta and Bali and Sanskrit and Indian studies chairs in Indonesian universities. The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has in the
past renovated the Prambanan temple complex. Jakarta has done its bit to renew traditional ties with its contributions to the setting up of the Nalanda University.

In modern times, it was the friendship between India's first PM Jawaharlal Nehru and first Indonesian President Sukarno that sowed the seeds for the close friendship between the two countries that we see today. Nehru championed the Indonesian cause as the infant
nation struggled to end Dutch imperialism.

In March-April 1947, Nehru hosted the first Asian Relations Conference in New Delhi to discuss the Indonesian problem. It brought together leaders of independence movements from across Asia, and was the first effort to forge an Asian unity. Biju Patnaik, later
to become the chief minister of Orissa, responded to Nehru's call to pilot his aircraft to Indonesia to rescue vice president Mohammad Hatta, and PM Sutan Sjahrir from the Dutch to fly them to New Delhi to attend the conference. Years later, Sukarno made Patnaik
an honorary Bumiputra.

Nehru followed the 1947 event by hosting the Indonesia Conference in January 1949 to discuss the Dutch aggression on the nascent republic. These two conferences were precursors to the Bandung Conference of 1955 that Indonesia hosted. It was the first Afro-Asian
event where both Nehru and Sukarno invoked the "spirit of Asia" and laid the foundation for the non-aligned movement.

In more contemporary times, the unveiling of India's 'Look East Policy' in 1991 and with India becoming a partner of the ASEAN helped New Delhi and Jakarta revive ties which were disrupted when Indonesia came under military rule between 1965 to 1998. Indonesia
is the most populous, largest and the most influential of the 10-ASEAN member states.

Last few years have been marked by strengthening of defence and security cooperation. Defence minister A.K. Antony visited Indonesia in 2012. India and Indonesia are working together on CORPATs, anti-piracy operations and maintenance of security of sea-lanes.
The two have signed an extradition treaty, a mutual legal assistance treaty and working towards an agreement on transfer of sentenced persons. There is increased cooperation in counter-terrorism, curbing drug trafficking and cyber crimes.

The two countries have increased maritime cooperation. Indonesia is India's maritime neighbour. The western most tip of the Sumatran island, Banda-Aceh , is barely 90 nautical miles from India's easternmost point of Andaman and Nicobar islands. The two countries
are taking steps for closer collaborator at IOR-ARC and recently held a trilateral track II dialogue on the Indian Ocean related issues. Apart from the two, the trilateral dialogue comprised Australia.

On the trade and economic front, Indian companies have significant investments in Indonesia's infrastructure, power, textiles, steel, automotive, mining, banking and FMCG sectors. Several Indonesian companies have also invested in Indian infrastructure projects.

There are around 100,000 Indonesians of Indian origin in Indonesia mostly concentrated in Greater Jakarta, Medan, Surabaya and Bandung. There are around 10,000 Indian nationals living in Indonesia.

But there is much potential for stronger India-Indonesia ties given the deep historical links and a shared recent past of fighting imperialism together. As Rabindranath Tagore said nearly a hundred years back in Java, "I see India everywhere but I find it nowhere."

It would be euphemistic to say that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and US President Barack Obama will meet in Washington D.C. in end-September at a crucial juncture in the context of international economic and political situation as also the India-US relations.

The Syrian imbroglio, the slowdown in the Indian as well as global economy and the imminent withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan starting 2014 and its consequences on India are issues of immense gravity to New Delhi that would come up for discussion between
the two leaders.

Instability in West Asia could impact India's energy security and its biggest source of foreign remittances. India gets 60 per cent of its crude oil from the region and six million Indians work in West Asia. Similarly, the pull out of Nato forces from Afghanistan
would have repercussions on New Delhi's strategic space in the region.

But more important in the short term is India's need to look for investments to revive its economic growth. Business communities in both India and the US are hopeful the two leaders would spur their negotiators into inking important agreements that could pave
the way for improved trade and investments, particularly in the civil nuclear energy and defence sectors.

The above would be the key concerns between the two sides in what has blossomed into a close and healthy relationship in the last decade. The India-US Strategic Dialogue agreed to in July 2009 broad based the India-US relationship. It focuses on the following
areas - strategic cooperation, energy and climate change, education and development, economics, trade and agriculture, high technology, civil nuclear energy, health and innovation. Under this, the US and India have numerous institutionalized working groups
which consult on nearly every aspect of their relationship.

The first Strategic Dialogue took place in 2010. The two sides concluded the fourth edition of their Strategic Dialogue on June 24 this year in New Delhi with External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid and US Secretary of State John Kerry leading their respective
sides. The two sides have important Homeland Security Dialogue that cooperates on counter-terrorism measures, Energy Dialogue, dialogues in health, education, etc.

India is both an emerging market and a military power with the third largest standing army. It is also strategically located close to countries in which Washington has deep interest like China, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Central Asian Republics and Myanmar.The
developing security architecture in South East Asia, particularly in view of the forthcoming East Asia Summit in Brunei that both leaders are slated to attend, would be a point of discussion and sharing of notes. The two sides have worked closely at the East
Asia Summit, Asean Defence Ministers Plus Meetings (ADMM+), and the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF).

"India is a key part of the U.S. rebalance in Asia. And we are committed to that rebalance. I want to emphasize this point. Our security interests with India converge on a wide range of maritime and broader regional issues, and we value India’s role in our
mutual efforts to ensure a stable and prosperous Asia," said US Secretary of State John Kerry at the fourth Indo-US Strategic Dialogue in New Delhi in June. Maritime security, freedom of navigation and peaceful settlements of maritime disputes in the region
are important areas of consultation. India and the US also have a trilateral dialogue process with Japan aimed at promoting regional trade, transit, energy linkages strengthening regional economic activity.

On economic issues, the US President will, as he always does, keenly listen to the Indian PM's assessment of the world economic situation. The two share a good rapport. Obama called Manmohan Singh "Mr. Guru" at the 2009 Copenhagen Summit. In an interview to
Time magazine in January 2012 Obama counted Singh as one among the few world leaders, including Germany's Angela Merkel, with whom he has forged "friendships and bonds of trust".

Prime Minister Singh was the first state guest of the Obamas at the White House in 2009. The US President visited India for a path breaking visit a year later. In an address to a special sitting of Parliament the US President expressed American support for
India's aspiration to be a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council and characterized the India-US relationship as one of the defining partnerships of the 21st century. He said Washington would support India's entry to the four multilateral
export control regimes that is the Nuclear Suppliers Group, Missile Technology Control Regime, Australia Group and Wassenar Arrangement.

On his part, the Indian PM may raise India's concerns over the US Immigration Bill, which has proposed steep visa fees and penalties on foreign IT companies that employ non-Americans. The Indian side is also likely to broach the issue of the US opening up more
employment and educational opportunities for Indians. There are over 100,000 Indian students in the US and three million Indian Americans.

The two sides would take steps to consolidate their economic partnership. India-US annual trade is nearly $100 billion, and total two way foreign direct investment nearing $30 billion. India and the US have set up an Economic and Financial Partnership to deepen
their economic engagement where the US Treasury Secretary and Indian finance minister hold annual meetings to discuss issues of mutual economic interest, including areas of interest to New Delhi like attracting private investment into infrastructure financing.

In the nuclear energy sector, the US-India nuclear deal was a seminal event in the relationship of the two countries. The the now need to take it to the next level. They will attempt to take forward their negotiations on this issue. The US-India bilateral defence
trade has expanded. The recent induction of the C-130J and C-17 aircraft into the Indian Air Force and of the P-8I maritime patrol aircraft into the Indian Navy have consolidated the relationship.

It is, however, unlikely that there would by any dramatic breakthroughs. The relationship is in a phase of consolidation where the two sides would look at finding common ground on facing existing challenges in Afghanistan, West Asia and on the economic front.
The silver lining is that both India and the US continue to engage with the realisation that the two nations share a common DNA in many respects.

US Secretary of State Kerry summed up the relationship and its future aptly as he ended his speech at the fourth India-US Strategic Dialogue in Delhi: "Ek aur ek gyarah hote hain...One and one make 11".

Ends

The US-India Factsheet

Framework agreement for the India-US civil nuclear deal signed in July 2005

Strategic Dialogue - set up July 2009, first edition in 2010 and fourth in June 2013

The India-US Trade Policy Forum (TPF) to discuss trade related issues established in July 2005, the last and seventh meeting in Washington in 2010

Agreement on Framework for Cooperation on Trade and Investment signed in March 2010

Agreement for Cooperation on Joint Clean Energy Research and Development Centre to help development of critical technologies for renewable and clean energy signed in November 2010

The Joint Working Group on Civil Space Cooperation set up in 2004, fourth meeting in Washington in March 2013

'Singh-Obama Knowledge Initiative', a fund to support higher education set up in November 2009, first series of funding in 2012

India-US Higher Education Dialogue, second edition held in June 2013 in Delhi

MoU on Earth Observations and Earth Sciences in 2008 to study the monsoon, climate change, etc

India-US Agricultural Dialogue started in 2010, set up a "monsoon desk" at the US National Center for Environmental Prediction for improved monsoon prediction

US and India entered into Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) negotiations since 2008, last round in June 2012

A Commercial Dialogue since 2000 to discuss intelligent transportation systems, public awareness on Intellectual Property Rights, sustainable manufacturing practices, support for small and medium enterprises, etc

U.S. Commercial Service has opened 12 American Business Corners in India

Information and Communication Technology Working Group set up in 2005, meets twice a year to discuss cooperation on equipment security, manufacturing incentives, cloud computing, and enhanced cooperation in ICT-related innovations

U.S. Antitrust Agencies and Ministry of Corporate Affairs and Competition Commission of India (CCI)) signed an MoU in September 2012 towards technical cooperation and consultation on competition policy and enforcement

U.S.-India CEO Forum

Ministry of Culture and the Metropolitan Museum Art, New York , signed an agreement in February 2013 to enhance cooperation in areas of conservation, exhibition, etc

The India-US Energy Dialogue launched in 2005 to promote increased trade and investment in the energy sector

India -U.S. Climate Change Dialogue

USAID and the Planning Commission of India signed a Statement of Principles forming a new Joint Working Group on Sustainable Growth in May 2012

Shale Gas Feasibility Studies agreement singed in May 2013

US-India Partnership to Advance Clean Energy (PACE) launched in 2009

USAID/India's Disaster Management Support project, in collaboration with the Ministry of Home Affairs launched in October 2012 with the aim to reduce the vulnerability of eight Indian cities to climate change-related disasters

US-India Health Initiative/Dialogue launched in 2010 has four working groups in the areas of Non-Communicable Diseases, Infectious Diseases, Strengthening Health Systems and Services, and Maternal and Child Health

Agreement to set up the Global Disease Detection- India Centre signed in November 2010

The United States and India are cooperating to facilitate missions to recover the remains of U.S. service members from World War II

Active cooperation in space, planetary science and heliophysics, potential future missions to the moon and Mars. The India-US Civil Space Joint Working Group held its fourth meeting in Washington, DC, on March 21, 2013.

(* Archis Mohan is a Free Lance journalist based in New Delhi. The views expressed above are the personal
views of the writer)

]]>24/09/2013 21:49:28MEA Adminhttps://mea.gov.in/in-focus-article.htm?22249/India+and+the+US+One+and+One+Make+Eleven
MEA2224922231India and the United NationsIndia and the United Nations: the quest for equity

by Archis Mohan*

The 68th annual session of the United Nations General Assembly opened on September 17 with the agenda to identify a path forward that may culminate into a consensus on the post-2015 development goals.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, slated to take the podium at the annual General Debate on September 28, and the rest of the Indian delegation comprising External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid and senior officials would stress that the post-2015 development
agenda should continue to have poverty eradication and inclusive growth on the agenda. India is of the view that principles of equity and common but differentiated responsibilities (CBDR) should be accepted as beacons of the post-2015 agenda.

The Prime Minister may also appeal the developed world to turn some of its gaze inwards to look at its own humungous consumption patterns. As is usually the case in multilateral forum meetings that the Prime Minister attends, his views on the current world
economic situation would be sought out by other world leaders. The current crisis surrounding Syria and the post-2014 Afghan situation are other issues that would become important both at the main debate and the dozens of bilateral meetings between leaders
on the margins of the UNGA Session.

Prime Minister addressing the 66th UNGA session in New York, October 24, 2011This would
be the Prime Minsiter's fifth visit to the UNGA Session since 2004 having addressed the General Assembly in 2004, 2005, 2008 and 2011. External Affairs Minister Khurshid would join the PM in New York after completing his Canada visit.

The Indian delegation is slated to attend meetings of the officials of the other four BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) countries, as also that of the G4 (Germany, India, Japan and Brazil). The G4 has been calling for the reform of the UN,
especially to expand the membership of the UN Security Council, to reflect today's reality instead of the international power balance as it had existed in 1945.

India and other G4 members have kept the issue of UN reforms alive in the past one year, and have regularly engaged with the L69 and C10 groups. The L69 is a group of 40 African, Latin American, Asia-Pacific and Caribbean countries which wants the UNSC expanded
to include six more permanent members - four of G4 and two from Africa. The C10 or the African Union's proposal for UNSC expansion is on similar lines. The three - that is G4, L69 and C10 - differ with each other on the question of who should be entrusted
with veto powers and who shouldn't.

Another area of concern for India as the biggest contributor of troops to UN peacekeeping operations is the changing nature of peacekeeping operations.

San Francisco Conference: India Signs United Nations Charter, 26 June 1945
Sir A. Ramaswami Mudaliar, Supply Member of the Governor-General's Executive Council and leader of the delegation of India, signs the United Nations Charter. India is one of the founding members of the UN. It signed the Declaration by United Nations
at Washington on 1 January 1942 and also participated in the historic UN Conference of International Organization at San Francisco from 25 April to 26 June 1945. India has consistently supported the purposes and principles of the UN and has made significant
contributions to implementing the goals of the UN Charter, particularly in the field of peace keeping.

Some years back the then UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said: "Over the decades, India has made an enormous contribution to the United Nations, through the efforts of its Government, and the work of Indian scholars, soldiers and international civil servants.
India's has been one of the most eloquent voices helping the United Nations shape its agenda on behalf of the developing world. And the experience and professionalism of its armed forces has proved invaluable, time and again, in UN peacekeeping operations
- in which over a hundred Indian soldiers have given their lives."

India has contributed over 1,60,000 troops to 43 of 64 UN peacekeeping operations since its inception in the 1950s. Over 160 Indian armed and police forces personnel have laid down their lives while fighting for the UN's blue flag.

The first deployment of the Indian armed forces was during the Korean War of the early 1950s. Other peacekeeping operations in which Indian personnel have taken part include Indo-China (Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia), Congo, Mozambique, Somalia, Rwanda, Angola, Sierra-Leone
and Ethiopia. Currently, Indian armed forces are part of seven of the 14 ongoing UN peacekeeping missions. Indian forces are in Lebanon (UNIFIL), Congo (MONUC), Sudan (UNMISS), Golan Heights (UNDOF), Ivory Coast (MINUSTAH), and Liberia (UNMIL). The first all
women contingent in any UN peacekeeping mission, a Formed Police Unit from India, was deployed in Liberia in 2007 as part of the UN peacekeeping mission.

But the changing nature of conflicts where a peacekeeping force is increasingly being asked to do a lot more than its traditional
mandate is an issue of concern to India, which it is likely to raise in the UN forums.

Over the years, India has viewed the UN as a forum that could play a role as a guarantor to international peace and security. In recent times, India has attempted to strengthen the UN system to combat in the spirit of multilateralism global challenges of development
and poverty eradication, climate change, terrorism, piracy, disarmament, human rights, peace building and peacekeeping.

In the 1950s and 60s, India led the charge of newly independent countries in the UN to argue and secure freedom for still enslaved countries in Africa and Asia. India co-sponsored the landmark 1960 Declaration on Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries
and Peoples which proclaimed the need to unconditionally end colonialism in all its forms and manifestations.

India was also at the forefront in the fight against apartheid and racial discrimination in South Africa. India was the first country to raise the issue in the UN in 1946 and played a leading role in the formation of a sub-committee against Apartheid set up
by the General Assembly. India was one of the earliest signatories to the Convention on Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination adopted in 1965.

India has over the years also championed the cause of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. In 1996, India as part of a group of 21 countries submitted to the Conference of Disarmament a Programme of Action calling for a phased elimination of nuclear weapons
(1996 - 2020). India is the only state with nuclear weapons that has consistently supported the call for total nuclear disarmament.

India's has always been a strident voice at the UN, a voice that was stronger as it founded the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and the Group of 77 developing countries that argued within the UN for a more equitable international economic and political order. Article
53 of the UN Charter states that the multilateral organisation would "promote higher standard of living, full employment and conditions economic and social progress and development".

Indian economists, Professor D.R. Gadgil and Dr. V.K.R.V. Rao, were closely associated with the processes of estimation of the official development assistance that developed countries, one per cent of their national income, required to transfer to developing
countries. Of this one per cent, 0.7 per cent was to constitute the ODA.

Indian delegates also played an important role in formulation of the 'development decades'. The first 'development decade' was from 1961 to 1970 and the fourth in the 1990s. The post-Cold War era changed the North-South donor and donee equation with the developing
countries realising they needed to restructure their economies to attract private foreign investment as direct foreign aid was a thing of the past.

The process culminated with world leaders signing the UN Millennium Declaration in New York in September 2000 where they pledged to meet time bound and measurable targets to reduce deprivation by 2015. It adopted eight Millennium Development Goals or MDGs.
The current 68th session would mull the post-2015 agenda. India wants member countries to agree to an inter-governmental process to be set up, which should discuss the issues through 2014.

In recent decades, India has apart from calling for reforms of the UNSC and world financial institutions like the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, has also advocated "zero tolerance” approach to terrorism in all its forms. In 1996, India piloted
a draft Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT) with the aim to provide an exhaustive legal framework to counter terrorism. India continues to work for its early adoption. Many of the features of CCIT have already been adopted.

India is also a major contributor to UN funds like the UN Democracy Fund that PM Manmohan Singh, US President George Bush and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan founded in 2005. India today is the second biggest contributor to the Fund to engender democratic values
and processes.

Former External Affairs Minister at the UN Security Council meeting in September 2012 India
was a non-permanent member of the UNSC in 2011-12 and pushed for an open debate on maritime piracy in the region. India has served on the Security Council on seven occasions so far - in 1950-51, 1967-68, 1972-73, 1977-78, 1984-85, 1991-92, and 2011-2012.
India at the United Nations

India has been a non-permanent member of the UNSC seven times - 1950-51, 1967-68, 1972-73, 1977-78, 1984-85, 1991-92, and 2011-2012

India is one of the founding members of the UN

India attended the San Francisco Conference of 1945, its delegation led by Sir C.P. Ramaswamy Mudaliar

India is the largest contributor to the UN peacekeeping operations

India has contributed over 1,60,000 troops to 43 of 64 UN peacekeeping operations

More than 160 Indian defence and police personnel have laid down their lives serving under the UN's blue flag

Indian armed forces are part of seven of the 14 ongoing UN peacekeeping missions

India co-sponsored the landmark 1960 Declaration on Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples

C.S. Jha headed the Special Committee to look into implementation of the declaration

India was one of the first countries to raise the issue of apartheid in South Africa at the UN in 1946

India was one of the earliest signatories to the Convention on Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination adopted in 1965

India has pushed for total nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation at the UN

it is the only nuclear weapons state to demand total elimination of nuclear weapons

In 1996, India along with 20 other countries submitted an action plan for phased elimination of nuclear weapons (1996 - 2020)

India played a pivotal role in UN's ascertaining of ODA estimates for developed countries

India long with Brazil, Japan and Germany formed the G4 in 2005 to demand UNSC reforms

In 1996, India piloted a draft Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT)

India founded in 2005 and is a major contributor to the UN Democracy Fund

(* Archis Mohan is a Free Lance journalist based in New Delhi. The views expressed above are the personal views of the writer)

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is a six country multilateral body focused on security and economic cooperation in the Eurasian space. The precursor of the SCO was the ‘Shanghai Five’ constituted in 1996 by China to address border security issues
with four of its neighbours. In its present form, the SCO was founded at the Summit in Shanghai in 2001 by the Presidents of Russia, People’s Republic of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. At the 2005 Astana Summit, India, Iran
and Pakistan were admitted as Observers. Mongolia was also inducted subsequently as an Observer, while Sri Lanka and Belarus became ‘Dialogue Partners’. Turkmenistan has been participating in SCO summits as a special invitee. At the 2012 Beijing Summit, Afghanistan
became an Observer, while Turkey was added as a Dialogue Partner.

The SCO Council of Heads of State (HoS) is the supreme decision making body of the SCO and meets annually on a rotational basis (last in Beijing, June 2012). At the next level, the SCO Council of Heads of Government (HoG) also meets annually (last in Bishkek,
Dec 2012). Kyrgyz Republic is the current chair and shall host the SCO HOS Summit on Sep 13, 2013.

India’s participation at the SCO

India participated in the 2005 SCO Summit at the level of Hon’ble External Affairs Minister (EAM) and has since participated in subsequent Summits at the Ministerial or lower levels; except for the Yekaterinburg (Russia) Summit in 2009, which was attended
by Hon’ble Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh.

Since 2005, India has also been actively participating in all SCO fora open to Observers. This has included meetings of SCO Ministers for Trade, Transport, Culture, Interior/Home and Emergency Situations; SCO Business Forums; SCO ‘Energy Club’, etc. In
particular, India has been cooperating in the field of counter-terrorism with SCO’s Regional Counter/Anti-Terrorism Structure (RCTS/RATS), based in Tashkent.

Expansion of the SCO

The Tashkent SCO Summit in June 2010 lifted the moratorium on new membership and paved the way for expansion of this regional grouping. The SCO has since been actively debating in various structured formats, the issue of expansion of the organization. It
is understood that once SCO takes a consensus view on admitting new members, the modalities/formalities to be followed shall be finalized in the subsequent stage. As reiterated at previous SCO Summits/meetings, India stands ready to become a full member of
SCO once the SCO Members finalise the expansion modalities. At the SCO Summit in Beijing in June, 2012, former EAM Shri S.M. Krishna said:

"As we have emphasized at various SCO fora, India would be happy to play a larger, wider and more constructive role in the SCO as a full member, as and when the organisation finalises the expansion modalities. We welcome the general trajectory of the SCO towards
expansion and redefinition of its role. We feel a wider and more representative SCO will be able to deal more effectively with the common challenges of security and development in our region”

Some of the specific areas of interest to India, being discussed under the SCO umbrella include :

The evolving security situation in Afghanistan

Capacity building in the Central Asian region

Connectivity with the Eurasian region

Counter-terrorism and anti-narcotics

Energy cooperation

Enhancing economic and investment linkages

September 2013

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MEA2217222111G20: Bridging hope deficit and reviving world economyManish Chand
Hope springs eternal, especially in times of crisis. With the global economy still buffeted by the tailwinds of a festering downturn, all eyes are on the G20 summit of the leaders of the world’s most powerful economies in the Russian city of St Petersburg September
5-6. The 8th summit of the G20 grouping, which accounts for 90 per cent of the global economy and two-third of the global population, should seek to bridge the hope deficit in the world economic system and map the way forward for intensified macro-economic
coordination for sustainable global economic recovery.

Born in the immediate aftermath of the 2008 global economic crisis, the G20, from its first summit in Washington DC, has over the years morphed into the world’s preeminent forum of global economic coordination. Besides the G8 grouping of developed economies,
the G20 has emerged as a more representative grouping bringing in its fold top emerging developing economies, including India. In the first three years after the 2008 downturn, the G20 acted as an effective crisis manager, and is now evolving to provide leadership
on key global economic issues.

The context and challenges for the St Petersburg summit are different as compared to the earlier Los Cabos and the Cannes summits in 2012 and 2011 respectively when the focus was on terminal gloom in the eurozone and its corrosive impact on emerging economies.
Since then, the US economy has shown an upswing and the eurozone is proving that all is not lost. This time round, the spotlight will, therefore, be on developing effective coordination mechanisms and policy innovations to spur sturdy, balanced, sustainable
and inclusive growth.

The operative mantra here is sustainable recovery as the global economic debate has moved beyond growth versus austerity to a decisive shift in favour of growth and greater international coordination to sustain growth and recovery. In this context, the leaders
are expected to come out with a more sharply focused St Petersburg Plan of Action to stimulate and sustain global economic recovery.

Focusing on job-creating growth will be another important theme that will occupy attention of leaders at the St. Petersburg summit. Unemployment levels in several countries, including the US, have become excessively high and untenable, breeding large-scale
discontent. In some of the Eastern European countries, the unemployment rate has soared to nearly 60 per cent. The leaders will, therefore, be required to unveil tangible steps to achieve the twin objectives of growth and job-creation. These will include rebalancing
global demand, reducing financial market fragmentation and backing up reforms with monetary support and fiscal consolidation.

India’s priorities

For India, there is a lot riding on the outcomes of the G20 summit as New Delhi has proactively contributed to shaping the discourse for a comprehensive and inclusive global economic growth within the G20 process. Against the backdrop of a perceptible dip in
India’s growth rate over the last two years, New Delhi’s topmost priority will be to focus on issues of growth and financing investment to protect its economy from the spillover effects of quantitative easing by advanced economies. As India has not been a
contributor to imbalances in the global economy and its economy did reasonably well in the first three years after the crisis, it is expected to press developed economies to keep in mind the larger interests of emerging economies whose growth rates have been
dented by the festering global crisis. India, along with other emerging economies, is expected to make it clear that volatile capital flows resulting from quantitative easing of advanced economies are affecting economies of emerging countries and hence the
burden should be shared. Indian interlocutors should also defend the capital controls as legitimate and acceptable defence against speculative capital flows and press for creating an effective framework for the adjustment process.

In terms of likely tangible outcomes, the G20 economies are expected to come together on the interlinked issues of tax evasion, money laundering and combating corruption. This issue is also one of the pet themes of the 2013 Russian presidency of G20. If all
goes well, the summit could see a sort of breakthrough on coordinated measures to combat tax evasion and a collective endorsement of the OECD’s proposal for a global model for multilateral and automatic exchange of information relating to tax avoidance. The
summit is expected to come out with a plan for coordinated action to ensure the independence of anti-corruption agencies cutting across borders and unveil steps to tackle money laundering. India is expected to back these initiatives designed to inject greater
transparency in the international financial system and to protect the interests of common people cutting across boundaries.

Another key priority of India for the G20 summit will be to keep the grouping’s focus on long-term financing for investment in infrastructure and SMEs. In previous summits, India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had drawn the attention of world leaders to the
urgent need to build institutional frameworks to ensure steady and uninterrupted flow of finance for a range of developmental activities, specially in countries and regions with massive infrastructure gaps. In this context, the leaders of G20 countries are
expected to focus on closer coordination between multilateral development banks (MDBs) to mobilise private capital to address infrastructure needs in public-private partnerships.

Finalising broad parameters for financial inclusion and country-specific targets and commitments will also be among important issues at the upcoming St. Petersburg conference. In this context, the recommendations of the Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion
and a host of advocacy groups are likely to be backed by the leaders’ meeting.

Recasting global financial architecture

Most important, the perennially elusive quest of fashioning a representative, inclusive global financial architecture will see a renewed push at the St. Petersburg summit. With the status quoist developed economies prevaricating on accommodating emerging economies
in the reformed financial system, the emerging and developing economies are expected to make a robust pitch for speedily implementing the quota and governance reform in the IMF. From India’s point of view, this will be among top priorities. One can expect
a strong statement from India’s prime minister on spurring the reform of the global financial architecture, asking the advanced economies to honour their promise to implement the 2010 IMF quota and governance reforms. If the plan to complete IMF quota reforms
by 2013-14 had to be completed, the process has to be fast-tracked. The ambivalence on this front has to end sooner rather than later. The time-bound IMF quota implementation is absolutely necessary to raise the credibility, legitimacy and effectiveness of
international financial institutions. This is also necessary for reviving faith in the G20 process as the world’s inclusive forum for international economic decision-making and cooperation.

Don’t lose the focus

Five years and seven summits later, the G20 is still a fledgling grouping in search of the right script in the scrambled alphabet of multilateral geopolitics. While it remains a work in progress, there is a pervasive feeling that the G20 agenda has become sprawling
and unwieldy. There is a temptation to do too many things and take on too many issues, which has diluted the focus of the grouping whose core mandate is engineering and sustaining a robust mechanism of sustainable global economic growth and stability. Issues
like food security, energy security and climate change are urgent cross-cutting global issues that should engage the attention of the leaders of the world’s 20 most powerful economies, but there is no point in overburdening the G20 agenda. This sin of excess
must be shunned so that the G20 can be back to doing what it was created for: to keep the wheels of the global economy rolling and to shied it from imbalances and excesses.

(Manish Chand is Editor-in-Chief of India Writes, an online magazine(www.indiawrites.org)
External website that opens in a new window and journal focused on international relations, the India Story and emerging powers. He is also Editor of "Two Billion Dreams: Celebrating India-Africa Friendship.”)

In recent years, India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru has come for some criticism, much of it mostly uninformed or without context, for pursuing a foreign policy founded on the bedrock of non-alignment. But there was a time when non-alignment and Nehru's
stature as a world statesman armed New Delhi with a moral authority that enabled it to punch above its weight in international affairs. One needs to visit Hungary, as External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid is currently doing, to realise the debt that common
Hungarians think they owe to India for the role New Delhi played during the Hungarian uprising of 1956.

Hungarians still recall how India intervened with the communist regime in Moscow that saved the life of Dr. Arpad Goncz. The Red Army tanks rolled into Budapest to mercilessly crush the uprising and eliminate its leadership. India worked the diplomatic channels
to request Moscow to save Dr. Goncz. He later went on to serve as the President of Hungary from 1990 to 2000, the country's first non-communist President after the end of the Cold War.

Khurshid is on a visit to Budapest from July 14 to 16. He has been invited to address the Annual Conference of Hungarian Ambassadors, which is symbolic of the high level of mutual trust between India and Hungary. He has also met Hungarian Foreign Minister Dr.
Janos Maronyi to hold discussions on all issues of bilateral, regional and international concern and closely coordinate positions on all regional and international issues.

During the visit, Khurshid is to fine tune the itinerary and agenda for Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's official visit to India in October, which is expected to set a new milestone in India-Hungary bilateral ties. The two sides expect to sign several
bilateral agreements to further bolster their bilateral cooperation. The Minister has a meeting with the Hungarian PM and inaugurates an exhibition celebrating the birth centenary of Amrita Sher-Gil, one of the most important women painters of her generation
whose mother was Hungarian.

India and Hungary enjoyed close economic and political ties during the Cold War era. India was Hungary's biggest trading partner in Asia with bilateral trade at nearly $200 million in the 1980s. The two, however, found it difficult to keep up the momentum of
vibrant economic cooperation in the post-1990 years. This has begun to change in the last few years with bilateral trade noting an upswing and Indian investments in Hungary reaching a record level of $1.5 billion. Bilateral trade reached $840 million in 2011
but dipped to $641.9 billion in 2012, primarily because of a sharp decline in Hungarian exports to India. Trade is an area that the two sides would like to address during Khurshid's visit.

The two countries marked the 60th anniversary of establishment of their diplomatic relations in 2008 with the visit of the then Hungarian PM Ferenc Gyurcsany. In the past two decades, India and Hungary have signed several agreements, including Air Services
Agreement, Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement, Bilateral Investment Protection and Promotion Agreement, Social Security Agreement, Agreements on Cooperation in Health, Agriculture, IT, Science and Technology and Defence.

India is also trying to promote Ayurveda in Hungary, which has a tradition of spa therapies. The Indian embassy helped organise an international Ayurveda conference in Budapest in September 2007 and an international workshop on 'Traditional Herbal Medicinal
Products Directive and its impact on Ayurveda in Europe' in March 2010 in Budapest.

Hungary along with Turkey, which the External Affairs Minister visits later in the week, are important countries of Central Europe. The Central European region comprises 30 countries, many of these being former communist countries.

Indian foreign policy has in the last couple of years begun to give adequate attention to improving its relations with these countries, particularly former Warsaw Pact countries and former Yugoslav countries, because of their technological know-how in niche
high technology sectors. In the last couple of years, New Delhi has hosted important ministers and delegations from these countries, including from Slovenia and Poland.

Minister of State for External Affairs Ms. Preneet Kaur with Mr. Radoslaw Sikorski, Foreign Minister of Poland shaking hands before their meeting in Warsaw on 29 January 2013

Of some interest to India is the expertise these countries have in the field of nuclear energy. Slovenia, for example, meets 70 per cent of its electricity requirement from nuclear power. India also hopes to learn from Czech Republic and Bulgaria's experiences
in harnessing nuclear power for peaceful use.

Central Europe is also an important region for India economically. India's total bilateral trade with Central European countries is $ 26649.08 millions. Significantly, the balance of trade is in India's favour with its total exports being $ 15481.15 million
and imports $11168.9 million. But these figures do not tell the entire story as these are shored up by India's healthy trade relations with only few of these countries like Turkey. With most others, India's trade is minuscule. It is a result of New Delhi unable
to take forward in the post-Cold War era the close links that it had with many of these countries from 1950s to 1980s.

The potential of India- Central Europe remains largely untapped. India has engaged with Africa at Summit meetings, focused on the "Look East" policy and laid out a "Connect Central Asia" strategy. It may be time to give a push to economic interests in the Central
European region. Coming soon after a visit to Norway, Khurshid's visit to Hungary and Turkey, it is hoped, may pave the way for stronger ties between India and Central Europe.

Central Europe fact sheet

Central Europe comprises 30 countries.

Of these, 25 follow parliamentary form of government, four are constitutional monarchies and one is monarchical-sacredotal (Holy See). Eighteen of these countries are European Union members and eight are Euro Zone members. Of the 30, there are 17 NATO and 18
Schengen members.

(The views expressed above are the personal views of the writer)
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MEA2194621879Khurshid to attend crucial ASEAN-India, ARF and East Asia Summit meetings in BruneiArchis Mohan

External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid is scheduled to attend the India- ASEAN ministerial conference, 20th ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) and the 3rd East Asia Summit (EAS) Foreign Minister's Meeting in Brunei Darussalam on July 1 and 2. Khurshid later travels
to Singapore for bilateral meetings on July 4 and 5.

The meetings come at a time of ferment in the Southeast Asian region. One doesn't associate edge of seat excitement with the world of diplomacy. But such has been the frenetic pace of developments in the region in recent months that every turn of phrase in
speeches that the over two dozen foreign ministers, who would collect in the Bruneian capital Bandar Seri Begawan, are slated to deliver at the ARF and EAS would be followed as keenly as a closely fought sporting encounter.

At stake are the contours of the evolving security architecture in Asia. The push to evolve stable security architecture for Asia has been an ASEAN driven process. This process has included mechanisms like the East Asia Summit, where the grouping among others
also deals with extra-regional powers like the US and Russia, the ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting (ADMM) Plus Process, and the ASEAN Regional Forum.

Khurshid's presence at the meeting and what he as India's External Affairs Minister has to stay on the process will be followed closely. For, India is part of all these processes and ASEAN member countries consider New Delhi a key player in the evolving security
architecture of the region. India has been and is committed to ASEAN continuing to be the driving force for these forums. If anything, India believes there is scope for greater synergy and complementarity between the different forums.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the 2011 East Asia Summit said "the resurgence of Asia is dependent on the evolution of a cooperative architecture
in which all countries are equal participants. We will work with all other countries towards this end." External Affairs Minister Khurshid will reassure and reiterate India's commitment to continue to participate in and contribute to the success of ARF and
EAS activities.

On July 1, Khurshid is slated to meet his counterparts from ASEAN countries for the India- ASEAN ministerial meeting. It will be a preparatory meeting to the summit meeting in October later this year. The India-ASEAN Strategic Partnership is the foundation
of India's Look East Policy. Last year, India and ASEAN member countries marked 20-years of this relationship with New Delhi organising a commemorative summit that witnessed unprecedented participation from all 10 ASEAN member states.

The anchor points of India- ASEAN relationship are economic growth and prosperity, capacity building and development and strategic issues. Together, India- ASEAN GDP is $ 3.8 trillion. The two are currently engaged with each other for closer trade and people
to people contacts and are in the midst of their second plan of action 2010-2015. It has reached its mid-way point and the mid-term review in Jakarta in May sent out a positive assessment. It recognised that the relationship had reached a high point but should
work to achieve a closer strategic partnership.

The India- ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in goods has led to a marked increase in trade volumes in 2011-12. It witnessed a 37 per cent increase to reach $70 billion. However, the FTA in services, signed in December, is yet to be operationalised. Good news
is both sides are giving the issue the urgency it requires and are busy ironing out rough spots.

Another area of immense cooperation has been connectivity. The India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway, that will connect India's northeast
with ASEAN countries, is nearly complete with work being carried out on the last eight kilometres of the highway. The next meeting of the task force is in Thailand.

However, India has its concerns in reducing the imbalance in the tourism sector. Many more Indians travel to ASEAN countries than vice-versa. An issue that Khurshid and ASEAN foreign ministers can look into is improving air-connectivity between India and all
other ASEAN countries, including improving air connectivity to Bodh Gaya and other places of religious pilgrimage in India venerated by Buddhists in ASEAN countries.

On the other hand, ASEAN countries would like to have more of their investments in India which continues to grow at a healthy rate of GDP despite the economic slowdown worldwide and whose infrastructure sector offers immense potential for cooperation. Currently,
there is more Indian investment in ASEAN than that of the latter countries in India. The two continue to negotiate for better trade ties under the Regional Economic Partnership (RCEP).

On July 2, External Affairs Minister Khurshid is scheduled to attend the 20th ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) and the 3rd East Asia Summit (EAS) Foreign Minister's Meeting. India is a founding member of the EAS, which was set up in 2005 and has emerged as a forum
where member countries have been able to have frank discussions on strategic and economic issues. India, and Khurshid will endorse the ASEAN centrality to this process and its driving force in the further evolution of the East Asia Summit but at a pace comfortable
to the member states. The EAS foreign minister's meeting would be a preparatory meeting for the summit meeting later this year.

The EAS foreign ministers would discuss cooperation in the five core areas of education, energy, finance, disaster management and pandemics as well as connectivity and further economic partnership between member states. Regional and international issues of
concern and the preparation for the Summit later this year would also be discussed. The minister would also attend the 20th meeting of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF). Set up in 1994, the ARF has 27 members. New Delhi attaches importance to the ARF as a forum
for constructive dialogue on political and security cooperation in the region with the ASEAN countries playing a central role in the process.

Developments, both in recent months and expected in the near future, in Afghanistan, the Korean peninsula, the South China Sea and West Asia make for interesting times ahead in the region. Khurshid would be attending ARF shortly after the conclusion of the
fourth annual US India strategic dialogue as would US secretary of state John Kerry. The US has welcomed India's growing engagement in the Asia Pacific and wants India to discharge a more pro-active role in this regard.

At the ARF, India will put forth its concerns on maritime security in the region, unimpeded commerce, freedom of navigation, need to combat the menace of terrorism, issues of cyber security and implore member states for a peaceful settlement of maritime disputes
in consonance with international laws. The ARF remains one of the pre-eminent mechanisms in the region to discuss strategic issues. It is likely to take further disrupted discussions between Seoul and Pyongyang. India favours denuclearization of the Korean
peninsula. The meeting will also be an opportunity for all stakeholders to have a better understanding of what key players think of the road ahead in Afghanistan. India wants the international community to remain engaged in Afghanistan and extend support to
the Afghan government towards an Afghan owned reconciliation process.

India and the United States have as many as 26 institutionalized bilateral mechanisms for consultations. India-US Strategic Dialogue is one of these. The fourth edition of this Strategic Dialogue will be held in New Delhi on June 24, 2013 when Secretary of
State John Kerry and his Indian counterpart Salman Khurshid will lead their respective sides to participate in this very important event and give further fillip to their strategic partnership.

There are important take-aways for both the sides in intensifying their cooperation and fine-tuning their strategic collaboration. It will be a win-win situation for both the sides

The importance of India for the US constitutes in the fact that India is an important swing state situated in a strategic location very close to four nations that the Americans are most interested in today – China, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Myanmar, though
not necessarily in that order. Besides, no country, least of all the US, can afford to ignore today’s economically resurgent India which also has the world’s third largest army, fourth largest air force and fifth largest navy.

The importance of the US for India hardly needs an explanation. If India is to become a crucial player in the global security and diplomatic architecture, it cannot achieve this objective without the US help. During President Barack Obama’s visit to India in
2010, the US announced its intent to support India’s phased induction into the four multilateral export control regimes (the Nuclear Suppliers Group, Missile Technology Control Regime, Australia Group, and Wassenaar Arrangement). This is a work in progress
and India should be there in near future. After that India will have a more legitimate and forceful claim for permanent membership of the United Nations Security Council with full veto rights. Secretary Kerry has in his recent YouTube statement reiterated
US commitment to support India's inclusion as a permanent member of a reformed and expanded UN Security Council.

The two sides will have their hands full in terms of issues on the agenda. Afghanistan will naturally be a major discussion point as the phased withdrawal of American and NATO troops from Afghanistan is slated to begin from February 2014. India will be keen
to hear from the horse’s mouth Washington’s plans about Afghanistan. A stable and peaceful Afghanistan is a strategic imperative for India. Recent history has demonstrated how a volatile Afghanistan can endanger India’s national security when Taliban ruled
the country from 1996 to 2001. India will dread the thought of the Taliban coming back to power in the event of political vacuum that the US withdrawal will inevitably trigger.

Energy and defence will form core of discussions at the 4th Indo-US Strategic Dialogue. Besides, there are two more issues that the two sides will be keen on pushing the envelope respectively: gaining preferential access to Indian markets (from the American
point of view) and the issue of the US opening up more employment opportunities for India’s skilled workers (from the Indian perspective).

The two sides have traversed quite some distance in past one decade and have been closely collaborating with each other in such crucial and diverse fields as defence, diplomacy, internal security, terrorism, agriculture, nano-technology, science and technology,
medicine, energy, education and health, just to name a few.

The strategic dialogue process has nudged the two sides closer because the world’s most powerful democracy and the world’s most populous democracy have stepped up their mutual consultations and cooperation in such an important arena. On many issues of bilateral,
regional and international interest the two sides are on the same page, though on many others they have different views. But what matters is their determination to consult each other on the strategic issues confronting the world.

No dramatic breakthroughs can and should be expected from this strategic dialogue process. It is not a 100-metre race but a marathon. Moreover, this process should not be confused for being a test case for improving bilateral ties. In fact, the very fact that
the two sides have reached the level of having an institutionalized mechanism of a strategic dialogue should be seen as a proof of the importance the two sides attach to one another.

Since the inaugural of the strategic dialogue process between India and the US in 2010, the two sides have recorded a remarkable growth and expansion of their bilateral relationship. This and the other points just mentioned were duly stressed by India and the
US after they held their third strategic dialogue in Washington in June 2012.

At the end of their third strategic dialogue, the two principals then – Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and External Affairs Minister SM Krishna – had held that the Indo-US ties had already entered a phase of maturity in which there was no longer need for
dramatic breakthroughs that was seen earlier.

Clinton and Krishna had agreed at the end of the 3rd Indo-US Strategic Dialogue in Washington that the breadth and diversity of the engagement and growing links between the people of the two countries, leaders of both countries placed promotion of closer ties
between the people, private collaborations and public-private partnerships at the center of the Strategic Dialogue.

India and the US have been working together on a shared vision for peace, stability and prosperity in Asia, the Indian Ocean region and the Pacific region and have been working closely regional forums like East Asia Summit, ASEAN Regional Forum and ASEAN Defense
Ministers Meeting Plus.

Significantly, the two powers have also started a trilateral dialogue process with Japan with the joint objective of strengthening regional economic connectivity and promoting regional trade, transit, and energy linkages. The US has welcomed India's growing
engagement in the Asia Pacific and wants India to discharge a more pro-active in this regard.

One of the important points underlined by the two sides at the 3rd Indo-US Strategic Dialogue was their support for the importance of maritime security, unimpeded commerce, freedom of navigation and the peaceful settlement of maritime disputes.

To use a cricket analogy, the Indo-US Strategic Dialogue is test match and not a 20-20 game. The results will be there. One has to have patience.

*The writer is a New Delhi-based journalist-author and a strategic analyst who can be reached atbhootnath004@yahoo.com.

India, along with the US, was the largest importer of Iraqi crude oil in 2012. Last year, Indian oil refineries purchased as much as 19 per cent of Iraqi crude production, making Iraq the second largest supplier of crude to India.

That Iraq has displaced Iran as the second biggest supplier of crude oil to an energy hungry India is a fact. But to look at India-Iraq or India-Iran relations merely through the prism of New Delhi’s energy needs is a myopic perspective that fortunately South
Block may finally be redressing.

External affairs minister Salman Khurshid is scheduled to be in Baghdad for a two day visit on June 19 and 20. The minister’s visit, it should be hoped, will mark the revival of close India-Iraq relations which the second Gulf War of 2003 disrupted.

India and Iraq have a Joint Commission for Economic and Technical Cooperation that would meet routinely before the second Gulf War. However, it last met in 2007 – evidence that India-Iraq relations have remained ignored over the past decade. Khurshid is likely
to revive the mechanism and bring a semblance of vigour in India-Iraq ties.

India’s energy needs will be an important part of Khurshid’s agenda but the two share a common vision of a peaceful West Asia, source of much of India’s energy needs and the remittances that the nearly six million Indians working in the region send back home
annually.

In the immediate future, India is looking at increasing its import of Iraqi crude and a senior minister in the Iraqi government has offered to up his country’s oil exports to India by as much as 30 per cent. That Indian oil companies shifted from Iranian to
Iraqi oil in 2011-12 to evade the US and European Union economic sanctions is true but only partially.

The fact of the matter is that India, if it has to grow at 8% annually and pull millions of its people out of poverty, needs energy and may need to go to the ends of the earth to satisfy its thirst.

Iraq which is trying to increase its oil production after years of civil war and disturbances needs investments to repair its infrastructure, and who better than Indian public and private sector with decades of experience of having worked in Iraq in the 1970s
and 80s to provide necessary technical and manpower assistance. Common Iraqis continue to respect Indian companies for the work carried out then.

That Iraq has replaced Iran may be a simplistic way to look at the situation. Khurshid was in Tehran in the first of week of May. For India and Iran need each other both for economic and strategic reasons. India, which has built the highway between Zaranj and
Delaram has also committed to help Iran build the port of Chabahar and a railway line.

Therefore, there is much that India is and can contribute and gain, both strategically and economically, in West Asia particularly now as clouds of conflict recede. The situation in Afghanistan post 2014 remains a matter of concern equally for New Delhi, Tehran
and Baghdad. The latter two are not the arch enemies that they once were as Tehran during the past decade supported much of the anti-Saddam Hussein Iraqi leadership. Interestingly, Khurshid’s Baghdad visit takes place a week before the India-US strategic dialogue
at the foreign ministers’ level in New Delhi.

Energy and revival of economic links will top Khurshid’s agenda during his visit to Iraq. The US Energy Information Administration has estimated that India and the US were the topmost destinations for Iraq’s crude oil exports in 2012, with both importing 19
per cent each of Iraq’s oil production. Iraq exported 13 per cent of its crude to China in 2012.

Iraq has the fifth largest proven reserves of petroleum in the world, after Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Canada and Iran. But infrastructural problems because of years of sanctions and civil war have meant Iraq is far away from developing its known oil fields.
Iraqis estimate investments of $30 billion are needed if their country is to reach optimum production targets.

Iraq wants Indian investments in oil exploration, refinery and other sectors. It hopes to increase its oil production and exports which would finance its development activities. Many Indian companies have plans to invest in Iraq.

Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), along with six other global firms, was recently short-listed for development of the multi-billion-dollar Nasiriya oilfield project. Jindal SAW Ltd. has won a $198 million contract to build and operate a factory for manufacturing
oil and gas pipeline in Southern Iraq. Several other Indian companies have also invested and more are likely once the internal situation in Iraq improves.

India and Iraq have historical ties that date back two millennia. In recent times, India opposed both the first and second Gulf Wars against Iraq. The 2003 US invasion of Iraq disrupted India-Iraq economic relationship.

But India was quick to rebuild bridges when in 2005 Prime Minister Manmohan Singh sent his special envoy Chinmaya R. Gharekhan to Baghdad to meet the leaders of the new Iraqi regime. India also pledged US$10 million to the International Reconstruction Fund
Facility for Iraq (IRFFI) and an additional US$20 million through the United Nations.

Annually, nearly 120 Iraqi officials are trained in India under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) programme and 55 Iraqi students pursue higher studies in India under the ‘Cultural Exchange Programme Scholarship Scheme’ (CEP) and the ‘General
Cultural Scholarship Scheme’ (GCSS) organized by the Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR). The Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOC) has been imparting training in India to the Iraqi oil officials.

People to people contacts between the two countries have revived in recent years with most wealthy Iraqis turning to India for medical treatment. Air connectivity has improved in recent years. According to estimates, at least 60 Iraqis land in India every day
specifically for medical treatment.

Khurshid’s visit to Iraq comes at a time when there is a need to revive and restore close India-Iraq ties, which would prove beneficial both economically and strategically to Baghdad and New Delhi.

]]>13/06/2013 18:51:34MEA Adminhttps://mea.gov.in/in-focus-article.htm?21819/Khurshids+visit+to+Baghdad+to+revive+IndiaIraq+ties
MEA2181921812India and the ArcticArctic region, the enormous area around the North Pole spreading over one-sixth of the earth’s landmass (approximately the size of Russia, China and India put together!), is increasingly being effected by external global forces - environmental, commercial
and strategic and in turn is poised to play an increasingly greater role in shaping the course of world affairs.

By far Climate Change and the resultant rapid melting of the Arctic Ice cap is the most important phenomenon that is redefining the global perspective on the Arctic. Current scientific consensus indicates the Arctic may experience nearly ice free summers as
early as 2030’s opening up enormous opportunities as well as challenges not only for the littoral states but also the international community as a whole. While the attraction of Arctic oil and gas reserves, unexploited marine living resources and shorter shipping
routes connecting the Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans is undeniable, the adversarial impact of melting Arctic Ice cap on the indigenous communities, the marine ecosystems and aggravation of global warming is equally undeniable.

Antarctica, though uninhabited, is governed by the 1959 Antarctic Treaty ensuring that it is used for exclusively peaceful purposes. There is no similar international regime for the Arctic. This was perhaps because of the particular characteristics of the Arctic
but also because of the Cold War. In the Post Cold War era a move towards cooperative arrangements for managing the Arctic region led the establishment of Arctic Council.

The Arctic Council is a high level intergovernmental body set up in 1996 by the Ottawa declaration to promote cooperation, coordination and interaction among the Arctic States together with the indigenous communities and other Arctic inhabitants. The Council
has the eight circumpolar countries (Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Denmark (Greenland and Faroe Islands), Canada, US and Russia) as member states and is mandated to protect the Arctic environment and promote the economies and social and cultural well-being
of the indigenous peoples whose organizations are permanent participants in the council. Observer status in the Arctic Council is open to Non-governmental organizations, Non-littoral states as well as to Intergovernmental and Inter-Parliamentary organizations.
With 6 new countries inducted as observers in May 2013 the Arctic Council currently has 12 observers.

The Council members meet biannually and the Chairmanship if the Arctic Council rotates every two years. There are six working groups a) Arctic Contaminants Action Program (ACAP); Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP); (c) Conservation of Arctic
Flora and Fauna (CAFF);(d) Emergency Prevention, Preparedness and Response (EPPR); (e)Protection of the Arctic Marine Environment (PAME); and (f) Sustainable Development Working Group(SDWG). On the agenda of the Arctic Council are issues relating to shipping
regulations, maritime boundaries, search and rescue responsibilities and to devise strategies to mitigate the adversarial impact of the melting of Arctic ice cap.

India and the Arctic

India’s engagement with the Arctic dates back to nearly nine decades when it signed the ‘Treaty between Norway, US, Denmark, France, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Great Britain and Ireland and the British overseas Dominions and Sweden concerning Spitsbergen’
also called the ‘Svalbard Treaty’ in February 1920 in Paris.

India has been closely following the developments in the Arctic region in the light of the new opportunities and challenges emerging for the international community due to global warming induced melting of Arctic’s ice cap. Today India’s interests in the Arctic
region are scientific, environmental, commercial as well as strategic.
India initiated its Arctic Research Program in 2007 with thrust on climate change in the circumpolar north. The major objectives of the Indian Research in Arctic Region are as follows:

To study the hypothesized tele-connections between the Arctic climate and the Indian monsoon by analyzing the sediment and ice core records from the Arctic glaciers and the Arctic Ocean.

To characterize sea ice in Arctic using satellite data to estimate the effect of global warming in the northern polar region.

To conduct research on the dynamics and mass budget of Arctic glaciers focusing on the effect of glaciers on sea-level change.

To carry out a comprehensive assessment of the flora and fauna of the Artic vis-àvis their response to anthropogenic activities. In addition, it is proposed to undertake a comparative study of the life forms from both the Polar Regions.

India launched its first scientific expedition to the Arctic Ocean in 2007 and opened a research base named "Himadri” at the International Arctic Research Base at Ny-Alesund, Svalbard, Norway in July 2008 for carrying out studies in disciplines like Glaciology,
Atmospheric sciences & Biological sciences. India has also entered into MOU with Norwegian Polar Research Institute of Norway, for cooperation in science, as also with Kings Bay (A Norwegian Government owned company) at Ny-Alesund for logistic and infrastructure
facilities for undertaking Arctic research and maintaining Indian Research base ‘Himadri’ at Arctic region.

A number of scientists from different national institutions have participated in our Arctic programme. A sum of over US$12million has been committed for financial investments in Arctic Studies for the next 5 years. India was elected to the Council of the International
Arctic Science Committee (IASC) in 2012.

It is in recognition of this contribution to Arctic Studies that India’s application for Observer Status in 2012 received widespread support from all member countries and India was granted observer status to the Arctic Council at the Eighth Biennial Ministerial
meeting of the Arctic Council in Kiruna, Norway on May 1, 2013 under the Chairmanship of Sweden.

The impact of rapid changes in the Arctic region goes beyond the littoral states and any legitimate and credible mechanism to respond to these challenges calls for active participation of all those actors who have a stake in the governance of global commons.
The interplay between science and policy has the potential to contribute to the better handling of the complex issues facing the Arctic. India which has a significant expertise in this area from its association with the Antarctic Treaty System can play a constructive
role in securing a stable Arctic. India in its new role as a permanent observer in the Arctic Council is committed to contribute to the deliberations of the council to develop effective cooperative partnerships that can contribute to a safe, stable and secure
Arctic.

In recent times, an Indian tourist is more likely to travel to Thailand than anywhere else in the world. In 2012, a whopping 1.16 million Indian tourists visited Thailand.

But Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Thailand on May 30-31 will anything but be touristy.

India and Thailand have over two millennia old religious, cultural and trade links. In the 1990s New Delhi’s ‘Look East Policy’ and Bangkok’s ‘Look West Policy’ converged to bolster economic and trade links. Since 2003, the relationship has blossomed to cover
security and defence cooperation and negotiations are ongoing to ink a free trade area agreement. Some observers term the last two decades as the golden age of India-Thailand friendship.

However, much more needs to be done to improve connectivity and iron out the rough spots in signing of a full fledged FTA that has been under negotiation for nearly a decade now. Most of all, New Delhi and Bangkok need to further strengthen their security and
defence cooperation given their geo-strategic compulsions in the region. The good news is that both Thai and Indian leaders are aware of the challenges ahead.

That Thailand’s current PM Yingluck Shinawatra was the chief guest at 2012 Republic Day Parade and also attended the India-ASEAN commemorative
summit in December in New Delhi is evidence of the seriousness that both India and Thailand accord their relationship. Indian Defence and External Affairs Ministers are slated to visit Thailand later this year, which shows the desire on the part of both countries
to maintain the momentum in their relationship.

There have been frequent reciprocal visits by Prime Ministers and senior functionaries of the two countries since 1990s after what is considered an ice-breaking visit of the then PM Rajiv Gandhi to Bangkok in 1986, followed by PM P.V. Narasimha Rao’s visit
in 1993.

That India and Thailand are located in each other’s extended neighbourhood and share a maritime boundary in the Andaman Sea underscores the need for closer trade and defence ties.

This proximity offers immense potential for increased connectivity, particularly between India’s northeastern states and Thailand. New Delhi hopes greater connectivity with ASEAN of its northeastern states would help decrease the development deficit in these
states.

Similarly, Thailand believes better connectivity could help increase the footprint of its businesses in foreign markets like India with the ASEAN expected to become the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) by creating a single market in 2015.

India and Thailand have good connectivity in the civil aviation sector with as many as 138 flights operating a week. India is looking at
Thailand as an important bridge between South Asia and Southeast Asian hinterland. A trilateral project to construct a highway between India, Myanmar and Thailand is in the works and is likely to be completed by 2016.

An India-Thailand Joint Working Group on Connectivity and Infrastructure had its first meeting in September 2012 to explore possibilities of cooperation with third countries, including cooperation on Dawei deep sea port and a special economic zone in Dawei,
as also projects in Lao and Cambodia.

Thailand is making efforts to develop ports on its western seashore in the Andaman Sea. A Thai private company is to develop Dawei port in Myanmar as a gateway to India, West Asia and Europe. It has sought Indian help to assist Myanmar to work towards better
connectivity from the Indian border to Dawei port.

Defence ties

Bangkok and New Delhi have also made good progress in strengthening defence, security and juridical cooperation. The two have signed agreements on mutual legal assistance; transfer of sentenced persons, and close to signing an extradition treaty. The two claim
good cooperation between their law enforcement agencies, particularly in counterterrorism and transnational crimes. An extradition treaty is likely to be inked during Prime Minister Singh’s visit.

In defence, New Delhi and Bangkok have a broad-based engagement which comprises regular joint exercises/joint maritime patrols near the international maritime boundary to counter terrorism, piracy and smuggling; training of officers at each others’ Armed Forces
Training institutions and exchange of visits at various levels.

Trade

Trade and investment relations have improved significantly after the two concluded the framework agreement on FTA in 2003. An early harvest scheme that came into force in September 2004 eliminated duties on 82 products.

Currently, the two countries are negotiating the final bilateral comprehensive FTA. Last of the 26 meetings of the negotiators was held in November. The Second Protocol to Amend the Framework Agreement for Establishing FTA between Thailand and India was signed
during the visit of Thai PM to India in January 2012. The two PMs have directed their negotiators to conclude the FTA at the earliest.

Trade reached US$ 9.2 billion in 2012-13 and there has also been a fairly impressive growth in two-way investment flows between our two countries. Bilateral Trade has multiplied eight times since 2000.

Indian FDI into Thailand is estimated to be around US$ 2 billion since 1970s. Thailand has invested US$ 102.44 million in India. Leading Indian companies in Thailand include the Tata group with Tata Steel having invested in the largest Thai steel manufacturer
Millennium Steel to create Tata Steel Thailand. The Aditya Birla group, Dabur, Lupin and NIIT are among other major Indian companies doing business in Thailand Thai companies in India have invested in the fields of Agro-processing, construction, automotive,
engineering and banking have active and growing business presence in India.

Both countries are important regional partners linking South and Southeast Asia. They cooperate closely in the ASEAN, East Asia Summit (EAS) and BIMSTEC groupings as also Mekong-Ganga Cooperation (MGC) and Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD).

Cultural links

India and Thailand have cultural and religious that date back over two millennia.

In 329 B.C., Emperor Asoka sent Bhikkus Sona and Uttara to Suvarnabhumi to spread the message of Buddhism. Today, Buddhism is Thailand’s official religion and over 70,000 Thai tourists visited India in 2012 for pilgrimage. Ahoms, from north east, migrated to
Thailand some 800 years back.

Elements from Hinduism are reflected in Thai architecture, arts, sculpture, dance, drama, mythology and literature. Both Pali and Sanskrit have influenced the Thai language. Ramakien, a Thai national epic is derived from the Ramayana.

The Pahurat district, a large fabric market, is Bangkok's Little India. That it is adjacent to the Chinatown is a reflection of the potential of cooperation and competition between India and China in the South-East Asian region.

Africa Day is a time for rejoicing and celebration of the indomitable spirit of over a billion African people who are dreaming afresh a new
narrative of renaissance, resurgence and renewal. This year, the Africa Day celebrations have a special resonance as the 54-nation African Union commemorates the golden jubilee of the formation of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), its progenitor and
the torch-bearer of African unity and solidarity

It’s time for Africa

For India, a co-sharer of Africa’s agonies and achievements that hark back to the shared struggle against colonisation and apartheid and a proactive partner in the unfolding Afro-optimism, the AU’s 50th year party in Addis Ababa has a deeper emotive and intellectual
connection. Fittingly, Vice-President Hamid Ansari will be representing India at the AU Commemorative Summit May 25, where he is expected to reaffirm New Delhi’s unflinching commitment to the empowerment and resurgence of a continent that has shed diffidence
and is finding its place under the global sun.

Five years of India-Africa summit

Amid the jubilations and ceremonial grandeur that often goes with such milestone moments, not many will notice that 2013 is also an important marker in India’s multi-faceted relationship with the vibrant multi-cultural continent and the AU. It was in the summer
of 2008 that India institutionalised its summit-level engagement with the African continent, with the AU as the chief interlocutor from the African side.

Called the India-Africa Forum Summit, the first edition was held in New Delhi in April, 2008, followed by the second summit in Addis Ababa
in May 2011. India is an observer at the AU, but the IAFS process underlined the centrality of the AU in India’s Africa policy. In a seminal sense, the AU is the first pillar of India’s multi-tiered cooperative partnership with Africa which also works successfully
at the levels of bilateral relations and at the regional level through the Regional Economic Communities (RECs).

Put together, this unique three-tiered structure forms the basis of the India-Africa Forum Summit at which Director-General (DGs) of eight RECs, leaders of the countries chairing eight RECs, the chair of the AU, the past chair of the AU and the chairperson
of the African Union Commission are among those invited. Under this summit process, India and the AU launched in March 2010 an ambitious and all-encompassing action plan that, among other things, sought to develop Africa’s impulses towards regional integration
and the African unity - the prime theme of the May 25 golden jubilee AU summit in Addis Ababa which is themed "2013, Year of Pan-Africanism and African Renaissance.”

African renaissance

African renaissance has lately become a buzzword in elite economic and diplomatic circles, but for India it appears natural that given its vast and variegated natural resources, and, most importantly, the energy, exuberance and enterprise of the African people,
the 54-nation continent is finally catching up with its destiny. Trade and investment surely matter in the 21st century world in which economics is the prima donna, but India has consciously eschewed brute mercantilism in its relations with Africa.

"The commerce between India and Africa will be of ideas and services, not of manufactured goods against raw
materials," as Mahatma Gandhi, who honed his techniques of passive non-resistance on the African soil, said famously. It’s been decades since Gandhi spoke about deeper intellectual and spiritual connections between India and Africa; much water has flowed
since then. Africa, once a victim of colonialism, has now embarked on a new journey of economic liberation in a globalised world. In fact, there is a dramatic transformation in the global perception of Africa from a "Hopeless Continent” to a "Cape of Good
Hope.” And it’s not just manufactured hype; statistics sometimes lie, but Afro-optimism is for real: six of the world’s fastest-growing economies are in Sub-Saharan Africa; more than thirty African countries are now functioning democracies. The continent is
expected to hum along at the annual growth rate of 6 per cent.

India-AU partnership

The AU, the continent’s premier institution for promoting accelerated socio-economic integration of the continent, has played an important role in spurring this re-emergence of the African continent.

Building on enormous goodwill it enjoys across the continent, India has consistently backed the AU-led peace and development initiatives and created a multi-layered Africa policy that revolves around the trinity of trade, technology and training.

The rise of India and Africa

The resurgence of Africa has coincided with the rise of India as a global player, development partner and investor. The two narratives are now getting intertwined: be it trade, technology, training or reform of global governance, the multi-faceted ties between
India and Africa are blossoming and finding new areas of convergence.

Connecting to Africa

The AU has also a pivotal role in actualising India’s capacity building and human resource development projects in Africa. In fact, it was
at the pan-African parliament in Cape Town in 2004 that the then President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam first unveiled the vision of a Pan-African e-network, a pioneering initiative that seeks to bridge the digital divide in the continent and bring benefits of tele-education
and tele-medicine to African people. Seven years hence, that dream has not only become real, but has become synonymous with innovation-driven transformational diplomacy. More than 40 countries have already signed on to the network. Rhetoric does not impress
ordinary people over much; the smiling faces of African students taught virtually by Indian professors and Africans who have found a new life through long-distance consultancy from Indian specialists sitting thousands of miles away tell their own story.

India’s Africa Policy

Buoyed by the success of the e-network, India has pledged to set up over hundred training institutes across Africa at the two summits in New Delhi and Addis Ababa. It could be a potential game-changer of sorts in Africa’s quest to become a knowledge-driven
society. Although many of these institutions are to be decided through bilateral consultations, India has left it to the AU to decide the location and modalities of pan-African training centres. This process of consultation has become a distinctive approach
of India’s engagement with Africa under the broader paradigm of the south-south cooperation.

This multi-dimensional engagement has created win-win outcomes for both sides. Bilateral trade between India and Africa has gone up manifold from less than a billion dollar barely two decades ago to over $60 billion. If the Afro-enthusiasm among the Indian
businesses is anything to go by, the two sides can easily surpass the target of scaling up bilateral trade to $90 billion by 2015. India has pledged around $8 billion soft loans (lines of credit) for a host of development projects in the continent.

It’s not just trade that is thriving; the India-Africa partnership is acquiring a strategic cast with increased cooperation in combating piracy and terrorism and addressing a host of cross-cutting issues like the reform of global governance architecture. Peace
and security is of prime importance: more than 6,500 Indian soldiers are proactively engaged in peacekeeping in different countries in Africa. India is home to around 15,000 African students, with most of them paying for themselves. By 2014 it is expected
the number will go up to 22,000. Sharing the African Dream

In many ways, the India-Africa cooperation is becoming a genuine two-way street. Marrying African resources and Indian expertise, as former Ghana president John Kufuor says, is a win-win combination.

At the end of the day, diplomacy is not about chessboard games of power play, but about real people and their dreams and aspirations. Talking of India and Africa, it’s about unleashing the potential of two billion people who are itching to fashion their own
destiny in a mutating world order.

(Manish Chand is Editor-in-Chief of India Writes, an online magazine
(www.indiawrites.org) and journal focused on international
relations, the India Story and emerging powers. He is also Editor of "Two Billion Dreams: Celebrating India-Africa Friendship.”)

The importance of Japan for India can be gauged by the fact that Japan is the only Asian country and second in the world – Russia being the other one – with which India has an institutionalized system of annual summits. The world’s two leading peaceful democracies
and Asia’s number two and three economies have been holding annual summits regularly since 2006. (With Russia, India has been having annual summits since 2000.)

The only blemish in the Indo-Japan annual summits track record was last year when the two sides could not hold an annual summit. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had planned his visit to Japan last year but the visit, which was to begin from November 15,
2012, had to be cancelled at the eleventh hour because Japan was in the midst of elections.

Don’t be surprised if the two sides try to make up last year’s loss and hold two annual summits this year – the second one perhaps towards the end of the year!

The importance of India for Japan can be ascertained by the fact that for the last one decade India has been the largest recipient of Japan’s Official Development Assistance (ODA).

From 2003-04 to September 2012, India has received over $ 35 billion under Japan’s ODA programme on commitment basis. Besides, a total of 59 projects are under implementation with Japanese loan assistance. The loan amount committed for these projects is over
$ 12 billion. These projects are in the sectors of power, environment and forests, urban transportation, urban water supply and sanitation, rural drinking water supply, tourism, irrigation, agriculture, shipping, railways, renewable energy and financial services.

The Japanese have not been cutting corners when it comes to giving financial assistance to India even though their economy has been badly affected by the global recession since September 2008. This is despite the fact that in view of its sluggish economy, Japan
slid down to number three spot in the world and number two position in Asia in terms of economic rankings, ceding ground to China in early 2011.

Now some perceptions!

Sony, Suzuki, Toshiba and Honda are household names in India. But the Indian perception of Japan has gone far beyond Japan’s technological prowess.

Ask aware Delhiites to name one single country which has brought about a dramatic and visible change in their life styles in the last one decade. Japan will win this competition hands down because the Delhi metro rail system, built with financial and technical
assistance of Japan, has significantly raised the comfort quotient of millions of Delhiites.

Now more than three dozen cities are trying to emulate Delhi Metro. So much so that visiting official delegates from several developing countries find time out from their business schedule to have a ride on Delhi Metro.

If there is one country in the world which is silently but substantively involved in the transformation of Indian infrastructure it is Japan. Delhi Metro is set to be overshadowed by several other mega infrastructure projects where Japanese involvement is sizable:
Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor Project and Dedicated Freight Corridor Projects on the Mumbai-Delhi and the Delhi-Howrah routes. The Japanese government has also expressed interest to help establish a Chennai-Bangalore Industrial corridor and a Dedicated
Freight project in the south, connecting the cities of Bangalore and Chennai.

Now, over to challenges in Indo-Japan bilateral ties.

The biggest challenge for India and Japan today is: how to deal with a formidably resurgent China. In fact this question was put to the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh by his Japanese counterpart a few years ago when Singh had visited Japan in 2010. The
Indian PM’s response reportedly was: efficiently manage bilateral contentious issues while focusing on economic and trade ties.

Despite such a sturdy presence of Japan in the unfolding infrastructure growth story of India and despite the fact that Japan and India are second and third biggest economies in Asia respectively, their bilateral trade stands at a paltry $18.43 billion in financial
year 2011-12.

The two sides can look forward to a major fillip in bilateral trade after the signing of a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) on 16 February 2011.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s upcoming visit to Japan (May 27-29, 2013) must be seen against the backdrop of this broad brush picture. The visit will inevitably push Indo-Japan bilateral ties to a higher groove.

For those having a knack for history, the breakthrough in transformation of Indo-Japan ties in the modern times came about in August 2000 when the then Japanese PM Yoshiro Mori visited New Delhi in August 2000. Mori and his Indian counterpart Atal Behari Vajpayee
agreed to establish the "Global Partnership in the 21st Century", reflecting a broad convergence of their longterm political, economic and strategic interests, aspirations, objectives and concerns.

The second landmark visit was that of then Japanese premier Junichiro Koizumi to New Delhi in 2005. Koizumi and Manmohan Singh decided to further strengthen their cooperation and pursue an all round and comprehensive development of bilateral relations, with
a particular and urgent focus on strengthening economic ties. It was also agreed that the two countries would strengthencooperation in diverse areas such as environment, energy, disarmament, nonproliferation and security, taking advantage of, and further building
on, their strategic convergences.

This bilateral engagement process was given a major boost when Manmohan Singh travelled to Japan from 13-16 December 2006 during which he and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe signed a joint statement - "Towards India Japan Strategic and Global Partnership".

The exchange of prime minister-level visits between India and Japan for the annual summits since then can be briefly summed up as below.

Shinzo Abe visited India from 21-23 August 2007 during which he and Manmohan Singh signed two Joint Statements on "The Roadmap for New Dimensions to the Strategic and Global Partnership between India and Japan" and on the "Enhancement of Cooperation on Environmental
Protection and Energy Security”.

Manmohan Singh visited Tokyo from 21-23 October 2008 and India and Japan signed a Joint Declaration on "Security Cooperation" and a Joint Statement on the "Advancement of Strategic and Global Partnership between India and Japan”.

Yukio Hatoyama visited India from 27-29 December 2009 during which a Joint Statement on "New Stage of Japan-India Strategic and Global Partnership” was signed.

Manmohan Singh paid an official working visit to Tokyo from 24-26 October 2010 and a Joint Statement "Vision for India-Japan Strategic and Global Partnership in the Next Decade” and a Joint Declaration on the India-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement
(CEPA) were signed by the two Prime Ministers in Tokyo.

Yoshihiko Noda paid a State visit to India from 27-29 December 2011 and along with Manmohan Singh signed a Joint Statement entitled "Vision for the Enhancement of India-Japan Strategic and Global Partnership” upon entering the year of the 60th Anniversary of
the establishment of diplomatic relations.

The next milestone in Indo-Japan ties should be the DMIC project and should inevitably figure very high on the agenda of the two prime ministers. The $ 75 billion Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor is a corridor of opportunity for the two leading Asian powers
to forge closer ties. The sooner that happens the better it will be for both.

IBSA is a unique Forum which brings together India, Brazil and South Africa, three large democracies and major economies from three different continents, facing similar challenges. All three countries are developing, pluralistic, multi-cultural, multi-ethnic,
multi-lingual and multi-religious nations.

The idea of establishing IBSA was discussed at a meeting between the then Prime Minister of India and the then Presidents of Brazil and South Africa in Evian on 2 June 2003 on the margins of the G-8 Summit. The grouping was formalized and named the IBSA
Dialogue Forum when the Foreign Ministers of the three countries met in Brasilia on 6 June 2003 and issued the Brasilia Declaration.

Cooperation in IBSA is on three fronts: first, as a forum for consultation and coordination on global and regional political issues, such as, the reform of the global institutions of political and economic governance,
WTO/Doha Development Agenda, climate change, terrorism etc.;
second, trilateral collaboration on concrete areas/projects, through fourteen working groups and six People-to-People Forums, for the common benefit of three countries; andthird, assisting other developing countries
by taking up projects in the latter through IBSA Fund.

The success of IBSA reflects an important demonstration effect. It demonstrates, most vividly, the desirability and feasibility of South-South cooperation beyond the conventional areas of exchange of experts and training. IBSA success in contributing to
discourse on global issues also shows the importance of engaging with the countries of the South.Organizational Structure

Joint Working Groups

Joint Working Groups to promote sectoral cooperation have been established. There are 14 Joint Working Groups in areas, Transport; Health; Education; Defence; Science & Technology; Trade & Investment; Culture; Agriculture; Energy; Public Administration
and Governance, Revenue Administration, Human Settlement, Environment and Social Development. These Working Groups meet as per their respective plans.People-to-People Forums

There are six People-to-People Forums under IBSA. These are, Parliamentary Forum, Women's Forum, Academic Forum, Local Governance Forum, Business Forum, and Editors' Forum. There is also a Tri-nation Forum on MSME.Focal Points

Senior Officials from the Foreign Offices of the three countries dealing with IBSA are the designated Focal Points; Secretary (West), assisted by Joint Secretary (MER), Ministry of External Affairs, is the IBSA Focal Point for India. Focal Points meet once
a year for a standalone meeting and also meet prior to the Trilateral Commission.Trilateral Commission

The Brasilia Declaration established a Trilateral Commission at the level of Foreign Ministers. The Commission meets regularly; the first meeting of the Trilateral Commission was held in New Delhi on 4 - 5 March 2004. The 7th meeting of the Commission was
also held in New Delhi on 8th March, 2011; 8th Meeting is due in South Africa. In addition, Foreign Ministers meet regularly before every IBSA Summit as well as on the sidelines of UNGA in New York.Summits

Prime
Minister with President of Brazil Ms. Dilma Rousseff and President of South Africa Mr. Jacob Zuma at the Vth IBSA summit in Pretoria, October 18, 2011

Five IBSA Summit have been held so far: 1st IBSA Summit in Brasilia on 13 September 2006; the 2nd in South Africa on 17 October 2007, the 3rd in New Delhi on 15 October 2008, 4th in Brasilia on 15 April 2010 and the 5th in Pretoria on 18 October 2011. The
6th Summit is due in India in June 2013.IBSA Fund

An innovative work of IBSA is the establishment of
IBSA Facility Fund for Alleviation of Poverty and Hunger through which development projects are executed with IBSA funding in fellow developing countries. An annual amount of US $ 1 million is contributed by each IBSA member country. IBSA Fund received
the 2010 MDG Award for South-South cooperation on 17 September 2010 in New York recognizing the work of the three countries in using innovative approaches to share development experiences in other parts of the world.

An IBSA Business Forum was launched in Cape Town in March 2005. From India, CII, FICCI and ASSOCHAM are represented on the Council; CII coordinates India's participation.Agreements/MoUs

Three Agreements and 17 MoUs have been signed for pursuing sectoral cooperation among IBSA countries.Other Meetings/Areas

The IBSA Trade Ministers frequently meet to exchange views on Doha Round. At their meeting on the sidelines of OECD Trade Ministers Meeting in June 2009, they adopted a Joint Declaration highlighting the common approach
of the three countries towards the Doha Round; they also met in Davos in January 2013. Permanent Representatives of the three countries in Geneva and New York also meet to coordinate on issues related to WTO/WIPO.

Four meetings of IBSA S&T Ministers have been held; two were hosted by India (the first meeting in 2004 and the fourth in 2008 before the third Summit) and two by Brazil (second in 2005 and the third in 2006).

The Third edition of Joint Naval Exercises of IBSA countries [IBSAMAR III] took place in South Africa in October 2012; two Indian Naval Ships participated in these exercises. The Second edition [IBSAMAR II] was held
in South Africa in September 2010.

A Declaration of Intent between ILO and IBSA members was signed in Geneva in 2010. Under this Declaration the Ministry of Labour and Employment hosted an International Workshop on "Employment Guarantee Schemes & Sustainable,
Inclusive Growth: Innovations, Convergence and Adaptation” in New Delhi on 1-3 March 2012.The 6th IBSA Summit

India is hosting the 6th IBSA Summit in New Delhi in June 2013. The New Delhi Summit will commemorate the 10th anniversary of establishment of IBSA. It also assumes special importance as being the last Summit in the Second cycle of IBSA Summit.

The Summit will be preceded by a number of meetings of Joint Working Groups and People-to-People Forums.

IBSA is a unique Forum which brings together India, Brazil and South Africa, three large democracies and major economies from three different continents, facing similar challenges. All three countries are developing, pluralistic, multi-cultural, multi-ethnic,
multi-lingual and multi-religious nations.

The idea of establishing IBSA was discussed at a meeting between the then Prime Minister of India and the then Presidents of Brazil and South Africa in Evian on 2 June 2003 on the margins of the G-8 Summit. The grouping was formalized and named the IBSA
Dialogue Forum when the Foreign Ministers of the three countries met in Brasilia on 6 June 2003 and issued the Brasilia Declaration.

Cooperation in IBSA is on three fronts: first, as a forum for consultation and coordination on global and regional political issues, such as, the reform of the global institutions of political and economic governance,
WTO/Doha Development Agenda, climate change, terrorism etc.;
second, trilateral collaboration on concrete areas/projects, through fourteen working groups and six People-to-People Forums, for the common benefit of three countries; andthird, assisting other developing countries
by taking up projects in the latter through IBSA Fund.

The success of IBSA reflects an important demonstration effect. It demonstrates, most vividly, the desirability and feasibility of South-South cooperation beyond the conventional areas of exchange of experts and training. IBSA success in contributing to
discourse on global issues also shows the importance of engaging with the countries of the South.

Organizational Structure

Joint Working Groups

Joint Working Groups to promote sectoral cooperation have been established. There are 14 Joint Working Groups in areas, Transport; Health; Education; Defence; Science & Technology; Trade & Investment; Culture; Agriculture; Energy; Public Administration
and Governance, Revenue Administration, Human Settlement, Environment and Social Development. These Working Groups meet as per their respective plans.

People-to-People Forums

There are six People-to-People Forums under IBSA. These are, Parliamentary Forum, Women's Forum, Academic Forum, Local Governance Forum, Business Forum, and Editors' Forum. There is also a Tri-nation Forum on MSME.

Focal Points

Senior Officials from the Foreign Offices of the three countries dealing with IBSA are the designated Focal Points; Secretary (West), assisted by Joint Secretary (MER), Ministry of External Affairs, is the IBSA Focal Point for India. Focal Points meet once
a year for a standalone meeting and also meet prior to the Trilateral Commission.

Trilateral Commission

The Brasilia Declaration established a Trilateral Commission at the level of Foreign Ministers. The Commission meets regularly; the first meeting of the Trilateral Commission was held in New Delhi on 4 - 5 March 2004. The 7th meeting of the Commission was
also held in New Delhi on 8th March, 2011; 8th Meeting is due in South Africa. In addition, Foreign Ministers meet regularly before every IBSA Summit as well as on the sidelines of UNGA in New York.

Summits

Prime
Minister with President of Brazil Ms. Dilma Rousseff and President of South Africa Mr. Jacob Zuma at the Vth IBSA summit in Pretoria, October 18, 2011

Five IBSA Summit have been held so far: 1st IBSA Summit in Brasilia on 13 September 2006; the 2nd in South Africa on 17 October 2007, the 3rd in New Delhi on 15 October 2008, 4th in Brasilia on 15 April 2010 and the 5th in Pretoria on 18 October 2011. The
6th Summit is due in India in June 2013.

IBSA Fund

An innovative work of IBSA is the establishment of
IBSA Facility Fund for Alleviation of Poverty and Hunger through which development projects are executed with IBSA funding in fellow developing countries. An annual amount of US $ 1 million is contributed by each IBSA member country. IBSA Fund received
the 2010 MDG Award for South-South cooperation on 17 September 2010 in New York recognizing the work of the three countries in using innovative approaches to share development experiences in other parts of the world.

An IBSA Business Forum was launched in Cape Town in March 2005. From India, CII, FICCI and ASSOCHAM are represented on the Council; CII coordinates India's participation.

Agreements/MoUs

Three Agreements and 17 MoUs have been signed for pursuing sectoral cooperation among IBSA countries.

Other Meetings/Areas

The IBSA Trade Ministers frequently meet to exchange views on Doha Round. At their meeting on the sidelines of OECD Trade Ministers Meeting in June 2009, they adopted a Joint Declaration highlighting the common approach
of the three countries towards the Doha Round; they also met in Davos in January 2013. Permanent Representatives of the three countries in Geneva and New York also meet to coordinate on issues related to WTO/WIPO.

Four meetings of IBSA S&T Ministers have been held; two were hosted by India (the first meeting in 2004 and the fourth in 2008 before the third Summit) and two by Brazil (second in 2005 and the third in 2006).

The Third edition of Joint Naval Exercises of IBSA countries [IBSAMAR III] took place in South Africa in October 2012; two Indian Naval Ships participated in these exercises. The Second edition [IBSAMAR II] was held
in South Africa in September 2010.

A Declaration of Intent between ILO and IBSA members was signed in Geneva in 2010. Under this Declaration the Ministry of Labour and Employment hosted an International Workshop on "Employment Guarantee Schemes & Sustainable,
Inclusive Growth: Innovations, Convergence and Adaptation” in New Delhi on 1-3 March 2012.

The 6th IBSA Summit

India is hosting the 6th IBSA Summit in New Delhi on 6th June 2013. The New Delhi Summit will commemorate the 10th anniversary of establishment of IBSA. It also assumes special importance as being the last Summit in the Second cycle of IBSA Summit.

The Summit will be preceded by a number of meetings of Joint Working Groups and People-to-People Forums.

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MEA2152121505Second India-Germany Intergovernmental Consultations, April 11, 2013Germany is the largest economy in Europe and is India’s largest trading partner in the EU. India and Germany share a strategic partnership based on shared values of democracy, freedom, mutual trust and cooperation. India was one of the first countries in
the world to end the state of war with post-war Germany on January 1, 1951 and full diplomatic relations were established in the same year. Both countries reached the milestone of 60 years of diplomatic relations in 2011-12. To commemorate this important landmark
in the history of Indo-German relations, Germany celebrated the Year of Germany in India from September 2011 to January 2013 while India celebrates the Days of India in Germany from May 2012 to April 2013.

Indo-German bilateral relations continue to grow at a steady pace with several high-level visits from both sides. Chancellor Merkel visited India from May 31 – June 1, 2011 for the first round of Intergovernmental Consultations. During the visit, Chancellor
Merkel had discussions with PM and also called on the President. She was awarded the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding for the year 2009. She ‘soft-launched’ the Year of Germany in India 2011-12 along with the Speaker of Lok Sabha Smt.
Meira Kumar.

Chancellor Merkel was accompanied at the Intergovernmental Consultations by the German Federal Ministers of Transport, Building & Urban Development; Interior; Defence; Education & Research; Parliamentary State Secretary for Environment, Nature Conservation
and Nuclear safety. They held discussions with their counterparts. The following Indian Ministers were present along with Prime Minister: Finance Minister; Home Minister; Raksha Mantri; HRD Minister and MOS, Ministry of Environment and Forest. A day prior
to the Intergovernmental Consultations German Foreign Minister held discussions with External Affairs Minsiter.

The second round of Intergovernmental Consultations is scheduled to be held on11thApril 2013 in Berlin where Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh will be leading a five-member Ministerial
delegation from the Indian side. Germany is the only country with which India has such a format of high-level discussion. The visit is expected to impart significant momentum to bilateral relations. During the visit, Prime Minister will also bring to a close
theDays of India in Germany.

I am pleased to have this opportunity for a dialogue on how BRICS, and in particular India, could contribute to and benefit from the tremendous transformation that has made Africa the continent of hope today.

India’s relations with Africa are rooted in the history of our solidarity against colonialism and apartheid. Mahatma Gandhi developed the tools of peaceful resistance on this very soil. Our engagement with Africa has come a long way since then and today we
have built a new template for partnership in the form of the India-Africa Forum Summit. This partnership is guided by the vision and priorities of our African partners. India will assist Africa in charting its own course through institution-building, infrastructure
development and technical and vocational skill development.

The pan-Africa e-Network for tele-medicine and tele-education, which is now functional in 47 countries in Africa, is a major success story of our institution-building partnership with countries of Africa. We are ready to work with our African partners on e-governance
to help bridge the digital divide in Africa. India is also happy to share its experiences of participative political institutions, local governance, media and civil society with Africa.

Human resource development and capacity-building assistance were mentioned in this very meeting, and we consider them to be at the core of India’s cooperation with Africa, because they enable and empower people to take charge of their own future. Over 15,000
African students are studying in India. Agricultural and scientific fellowships specially designed for African scholars are highly popular. Our assistance with vocational and entrepreneurial skill development, with particular emphasis on small and medium enterprises,
is helping promote employability and job creation for the youth in Africa.

Our concessional assistance is directed towards development of agriculture, infrastructure and industry. We are reviewing the terms and conditions of our lines of credit so that they meet the budgetary requirements of our partners, and are in line with their
own development priorities, utilizing local resources and skills, and creating sustainable revenue-generating assets. On the trade front, our non-reciprocal Duty Free Tariff Preference Scheme Scheme for LDCs has significantly enhanced the access of African
LDCs to the growing Indian market.

Excellencies, India’s enterprising private sector is one of the key drivers of the India-Africa partnership. The Confederation of Indian Industries and the EXIM Bank of India last week organized the 9th Conclave on India-Africa Project Partnership, which generated
interest in 500 projects worth 70 billion US dollars.

Excellencies, as has been rightly mentioned by one of the distinguished personalities here, sustainable economic development requires an environment of social and political stability. India actively supports African initiatives for peace and security in the
continent. More than 6,500 Indian soldiers support UN Peacekeeping Operations in various parts of Africa. A large Indian contingent is helping the UN Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo carry out its mandate. We have also made financial
contributions to the African Union Mission in Somalia and the African-led International Support Mission to Mali. We strongly support the restoration of Mali’s territorial integrity as well as constitutional order in that country.

Excellencies, let me conclude by reiterating India’s resolve to work with Africa with the entire spectrum of our expertise and capacity. The BRICS forum offers another avenue for our cooperation. Initiatives such as the BRICS bank could further leverage the
collective capacity of the BRICS countries to assist the historic transformation taking place in Africa. This is an objective that India remains committed to.

The BRIC [Brazil, Russia, India and China] idea was first conceived by economists of Goldman Sachs as part of an economic modeling exercise to forecast global economic trends over the next half century; the acronym BRIC was first used in 2001 by Goldman
Sachs in their Global Economics Paper No. 66, "The World Needs Better Economic BRICs".Expansion of BRIC into BRICS

BRIC Foreign Ministers at their meeting in New York on 21st September 2010 agreed that South Africa may be invited to join BRIC. Accordingly, China, as the host of 3rd BRICS Summit [in fact the 1st BRICS Summit as South Africa joined BRIC at this Summit],
invited South African President to attend the Summit in Sanya on 14 April 2011 with the concurrence of other BRIC leaders.First Summit, Yekaterinburg, Russia, June 2009

Brazil hosted the second BRIC Summit in Brasilia on 15 April 2010; Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, led the Indian delegation which included Minister of Commerce and Industry. A Joint Statement was issued after the Summit. A Memorandum of Cooperation
was signed among BRIC Development Banks (EXIM Bank from the Indian side). The First edition of the BRIC Statistical publication was also released.Third BRIC (and first BRICS) Summit, Sanya, China, April 2011

The third BRICS Summit was held on 14 April 2011 at Sanya. Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, led the Indian delegation to the Summit. The theme of the Summit was "Broad Vision and Shared Prosperity”. Sanya Declaration was issued at the Summit.Fourth BRICS Summit, Delhi, 29 March 2012

The 4th BRICS Summit was held in New Delhi on 29 March 2012. Under the broad rubric of "BRICS Partnership for Global Stability, Security and Prosperity”. The Delhi Declaration at the conclusion of the Summit was issued outlining shared positions of BRICS
countries on global issues and giving a roadmap for further cooperation among BRICS countries.Fifth Summit: Durban, South Africa, 27 March 2013

The 5th BRICS Summit, the last in the first cycle of Summits, will be hosted by South Africa on 27 March 2013. South Africa will assume the Chair of BRICS from India at the Durban Summit. The Summit will be preceded by a number of pre-Summit events: meeting
of BRICS Academic Forum in Durban on 10–13 March 2013; BRICS Economic Forum on 25th March 2013; meeting of BRICS Trade Ministers on 26th March 2013; BRICS Business Forum on 26th March 2013.

The overarching theme of the Durban Summit is '"BRICS and Africa: Partnership for Development, Integration and Industrialisation'. ‘BRICS – Africa Dialogue Forum’ will be held in the afternoon of 27 March 2013 under the theme ‘Unlocking Africa’s potential:
BRICS and Africa Cooperation on Infrastructure’. Consultations of BRICS Leaders on the Margins of G-20 Summits

Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, Chaired a meeting of BRICS Leaders in Los Cabos, Mexico, on 18 June 2012, on the sidelines of the G20 Summit for an exchange of views on the Summit agenda. BRICS Leaders also discussed swap arrangements among the national
currencies as well as reserve pooling. A similar consultation meeting was held in Cannes, France on 3 November 2011, on the margins of the G20 Summit.Foreign Ministers’ Meetings

Foreign Ministers of BRICS have been meeting regularly in New York on the sidelines of UNGA since September 2006. India hosted the meeting of Foreign Ministers in New York on 23 September 2011. The last meeting was hosted by South Africa on 26 September
2012.

The first standalone meeting of BRIC Foreign Ministers was held in Yekaterinburg, Russia on 16 May 2009. A Joint Communiqué was issued at the Meeting.Finance/Economic Ministers’ Meetings

The first meeting of BRICS Economic/Finance Ministers was held in November 2008 in Sao Paolo, Brazil for consultations in the wake of the global economic and financial crisis. BRICS Economic/Finance Ministers meet regularly on the sidelines of G20 meetings
and IMF/WB annual meetings; the last meeting of BRICS Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors was held in Tokyo on 11 October 2012.High Representatives on National Security

Russia hosted the First meeting of BRICS High Representatives on National Security (National Security Advisors) in March 2009. The Second meeting was held prior to the Second Summit in Brasilia in April 2010. The Third meeting was hosted by Russia in Sochi,
in October 2010. A meeting of BRICS NSAs was held on the margins of the third International Meeting of High-level Representatives on Security Issues in St Petersburg, Russia on 10-11 June 2012. The third Meeting of BRICS High Representatives on Security was
held in New Delhi on 10-11 January 2013. Agriculture Ministers’ Meetings

Two meetings of BRICS Agriculture Ministers have taken place; the first in Moscow on 26 March 2010 and the second in Chengdu, China on 28 October – 1 November 2011. A Joint Declaration was issued at the meeting and Action Plan for 2012-2016 for Agricultural
Cooperation among BRICS countries outlining priority areas was adopted. A Working Group on Agriculture has also been set up to deepen cooperation in Agriculture. India hosted the 2nd meeting of the Working Group on 27-28 August 2012 in New Delhi.Trade Ministers’ Meetings

BRICS Trade Ministers met in Sanya, China on 13 April 2011 on the sidelines of the third Summit as well as in Rio in April 2010 in the run-up to the second BRIC Summit. Trade Ministers also met on the sidelines of the 8th WTO Ministerial Conference in Geneva
in December 2011. A standalone meeting of Trade Ministers was held on 28 March 2012 in New Delhi before the 4th Summit. BRICS Trade Ministers also met in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, on 19 April 2012 on the sidelines of the G20 Trade Ministers' Meeting.Health Ministers’ Meetings

The First meeting of BRICS Health Ministers was held in July 2011 in Beijing to explore areas of cooperation in the health sector. BRICS Health Ministers also met in Geneva on 22 May 2012. India hosted the third meeting of Health Ministers on 10-11 January
2013. Science & Technology Senior Officials

The first meeting of Science & Technology Senior Officials was held on 14-16 September 2011 in Dalian, China. Indian delegation was led by MoS for S&T. The second meeting was hosted by South Africa in November 2012. The third meeting will hosted by India
in 2013. Competition Authorities

The first meeting of BRIC Competition Authorities was held in Kazan, Russia on 1 September 2009. The second meeting was hosted by China in Beijing on 20-22 September 2011. India will host the next meeting in New Delhi on 20-22 November 2013.BRICS Development Banks

The first meeting of Development Banks was hosted by Brazil in April 2010; EXIM Bank participated from India in this BRICS process. An MoU laying the foundation of BRICS Inter-Bank Cooperation Mechanism was signed at the Meeting. Following up on the MoU,
BRICS Development Banks signed a Framework Agreement on' Financial Cooperation within the BRICS Inter-bank Cooperation Mechanism. The Framework Agreement envisaged grant of credits in local currencies and cooperation in capital markets and other financial
services including access to capital and financial markets and treasury transactions in member countries and issuing local currency bonds in BRICS markets. Development Banks are now pursuing the cooperation further. A Technical Meeting was hosted by EXIM Bank
in Kumarakoram, Kerala on 15-16 February 2012 to finalize texts of (i) Master Agreement on Extending Credit Facility in Local Currencies, and (ii) BRICS Multilateral Letter of Credit Confirmation Facility Agreement, which were signed at the Delhi Summit.BRICS led New Development Bank

India mooted the idea of setting up of a BRICS-led South–South Development Bank, mainly funded and managed by BRICS countries to recycle surpluses into investment in developing countries for infrastructure and sustainable development project. The idea was
discussed at the BRICS Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors' meeting held on 25 February 2012 on the sidelines of G20 Finance Deputies, Central Bank Governors and Finance Ministers' meeting in Mexico City. The first meeting of experts to examine the
feasibility and viability of this idea was held in New Delhi on 19 March 2012. The matter has been under discussion at technical level through a number of meetings; the last such meeting was held in Moscow on 15 February 2013 on the sidelines of G-20 meetings.Statistical Organizations

BRICS National Statistical authorities have held four meetings; the last meeting in New Delhi on 6-8 February 2012. BRICS National Statistical Authorities bring out BRICS Statistical Publication; the first was issued at the second Summit in Brasilia in
April 2010 and its revised edition after South Africa’s joining of BRICS, was issued at the third Summit in Sanya. The last revised edition was released at the Delhi BRICS Summit on 29 March 2012. The next edition is expected to be released at the Durban Summit
in March 2013. Academic Forum (Track-II)

India hosted the first BRIC Academic Forum in May 2009 as preparatory event to feed into the first BRICS Summit in Yekaterinburg, Russia in June 2009. Brazil hosted the second Academic Forum before the second Summit on 14-15 April, 2010. China hosted the
third meeting in Beijing in March 2011. The fourth meeting of Academic Forum was held in New Delhi on 5-6 March 2012. Observer Research Foundation (ORF) coordinates India's engagement with BRICS Track-II process jointly with RIS and ICRIER. South Africa is
hosting the Fifth Meeting in Durban on 10-13 March 2013. Business Forum

Three BRICS Business Forum meetings have taken place; the last in New Delhi on 28 March 2012 on the sidelines of the 4th Summit. An MoU identifying Focal Points in BRICS countries for coordinating business activities was signed at the second meeting in
Sanya in April 2011. FICCI signed the MoU from Indian side. BRICS Economic Research Group

This is a new initiative taken by India to bring together economic think-tanks and chief editors of business and economic magazines/publications from BRICS, to evolve BRICS thinking on economic linkages and developmental challenges within and outside BRICS.
National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP) from India hosted the first meeting on 27 February 2012 in New Delhi.Other Areas of Engagement

Other areas of engagement include meeting of Mayors of BRICS cities (the last meeting was held in Qingdao, China in May 2011. Mumbai Municipal Commissioner has attended these meetings) and BRICS Friendship Cities meeting (the first meeting held in Sanya,
China on 1-3 December 2011). Greater Mumbai Municipal Corporation hosted the 5 meeting of BRICS Mayors and the 2nd meeting of the BRICS Friendship Cities on 15-17 January 2013. The First Meeting of BRICS Urbanization Forum was held in New Delhi under India's
chairmanship on 1 February 2013. BRICS Study

At Prime Minister's suggestion at the first BRIC Summit in Yekaterinburg, Russia in June 2009, DEA, Ministry of Finance, coordinated a BRICS Study focusing on synergies and complementarities between the BRICS economies and highlighting their role as growth
drivers of the world economy. The Report was released by the Leaders at the Delhi Summit in March 2012.

For more information on the forthcoming BRICS Summit in Durban please seewww.brics5.co.za

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MEA2103021125Delhi Dialogue VThe India-ASEAN Delhi Dialogue is an annual international conference of political and economic leaders, officials, academics and opinion-makers of ASEAN countries with their Indian counterparts to discuss how to intensify and broaden political, strategic,
economic and civil society interaction between the two regions. The forum has not only entered into the lexicon of India’s ‘Look East’ policy but also drawn attention of the ASEAN region towards the need for a comprehensive annual dialogue between the two
partners. In this spirit, the India-ASEAN Delhi Dialogue V, titled "India-ASEAN: Vision for Partnership and Prosperity” will be held on 19-20 February 2013 in New Delhi.

This Dialogue is organised by the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, in partnership with the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA) and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and supported by the SAEA Group Research,
Singapore and Economic Research Institute of ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA), Jakarta.

Intended as an annual second track conference focusing on India- ASEAN Regional security and cooperation, the Delhi Dialogue I was inaugurated by Shri Pranab Mukherjee, the then Minister for External Affairs, and Dr Surin Pitsuwan, ASEAN Secretary-General on
January 21-22, 2009. The second edition of the dialogue took place on January 21-22, 2010 with the theme India and Southeast Asia in the Changing Regional Economic Dynamics of Asia: Shared Interests and Concerns. Third in the series, the Delhi Dialogue III
held on March 3-4, 2011 deliberated on ways to take forward cooperation beyond the 20yrs of ASEAN-India engagement. Delhi-Dialogue IV which was also the flag off event for the ASEAN-India Commemorative year celebrations, was held from 13-14 February 2012 with
the theme "India and ASEAN: Partners for Peace, Progress and Stability.The
then External Affairs Minister Shri S M Krishna with his counterparts from ASEAN Nations at the inauguration of Delhi Dialogue IV in New Delhi (13 February 2012)

This year conference is divided into five sessions in which the participants would speak and deliberate on issues such as "India-ASEAN Security Cooperation: Towards Peace and Stability,” "Non-Traditional Security Challenges: Food Security, Water Management
and Pandemics,” "Future of Global Energy Market: Role of New and Renewable Energy in Sustainable Development,” "Cooperation between CLMV Countries and North-East India: Opportunities and Challenges,” and "Expanding Networks through Connectivity: Land, Sea
and Air.”

Through these sessions, the Dialogue would highlight India’s increasing engagement with ASEAN countries and explore the agenda for consolidation of their relationship in the coming years. The Dialogue will also attempt to assess and incorporate issues and perspectives
which emerged from the India-ASEAN Commemorative Summit 2012 to help identify areas of greater engagement between India and ASEAN countries.

Over the years, ASEAN has evolved into a vibrant institution and developed a robust framework to deal with issues of regional concerns. India acknowledges the importance and valuable contribution made by ASEAN to regional peace and stability and also to the
economic well-being of the region. India has been a resolute partner and supporter of ASEAN and it is sincerely hoped that this partnership would be further strengthened through the Delhi Dialogue V.

The President of the Russian Federation, H.E. Vladimir V. Putin will pay an official visit to New Delhi on Dec 24, 2012 for the 13th India-Russia Annual Summit.

Prime
Minister meeting with Vladimir Putin in his previous tenure as President of Russia during the Annual India-Russia Summit in Moscow (December 6, 2005) Since the signing of the "Declaration of Strategic Partnership between India and the Russian
Federation" in October 2000 in New Delhi, bilateral relations have been characterized by steadily growing bilateral cooperation in the political, strategic and economic spheres. The two countries today share a comprehensive dialogue architecture based on the
six main pillars of close political coordination and cooperation in the fields of defence, civil nuclear energy, space, hydrocarbons and S&T. On the global stage, there has been greater convergence and commonality of views between India and Russia on major
regional and international issues. This year is being celebrated as the 65th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Prime
Minister meeting with President of Russia Mr. Dmitry Medvedev during the 12th India-Russia Annual Summit in Moscow (December 16, 2011) Under the Declaration of October 2000, we instituted a mechanism of Annual Summits between the Prime Minister
of India and the President of the Russian Federation. The Summits are held annually on a rotational basis. H.E. President V. Putin’s visit in October 2000 to New Delhi, in his previous tenure as President of the Russian Federation, was the first such Summit.
He also visited India subsequently in Dec 2002, Dec 2004 and Jan 2007 (when he was also the Chief Guest at the Republic Day celebrations) under the Annual Summit mechanism. His last visit to India in March 2010 as Prime Minister of the Russian Federation was
a working visit. Former Russian President H.E. Dmitry Medvedev’s visit in December, 2010 for the 11th Annual Summit marked the first decade of the relationship, when bilateral relations were elevated to a "special and privileged strategic partnership”. Prime
Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh visited Moscow in December 2011 for the last (12th) Summit.

Shri
S.M Krishna, then External Affairs Minister and Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Mr. Dmitry Olegovich Rogozin exchanging the signed Protocol of the 18th India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission session in New Delhi (October 15, 2012) The 13th
Annual Summit shall mark the culmination of a series of high level exchanges between the two countries during the year. Former President of the Russian Federation H.E. Dmitry Medvedev visited New Delhi in March 2012 for the 4th BRICS Summit. External Affairs
Minister Shri S.M. Krishna visited Moscow in April 2012 on the eve of the 65th anniversary celebrations (April 13) and also attended the 11th Russia-India-China Trilateral Foreign Ministers’ Meeting. The Deputy Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation,
H.E. Dmitry Rogozin visited New Delhi in July 2012 and in October 2012, the latter for the 18th India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission meeting. The 12th Defence Minister-level Inter-Governmental Commission on Military & Technical Cooperation also met in
New Delhi in October 2012.

India and Russia share a multi-dimensional strategic partnership which spans the traditional strategic sectors like defence, nuclear and energy and is increasingly being augmented by cooperation in the areas of trade & investment, science & technology,
culture & tourism and people-to-people contacts. The countries also share close political coordination on various regional and international issues at major global forums. At the forthcoming Summit, the leaders are expected to review the entire gamut of India-Russia
bilateral relations as also lay down a broad agenda to be followed for the coming year. A packet of important bilateral agreements is expected to be concluded.

To mark the 20th anniversary of the ASEAN-India dialogue partnership and the 10th anniversary of ASEAN-India Summit-level partnership, India is hosting the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit in New Delhi on December 20-21, 2012. The theme of the summit is ‘ASEAN-India
Partnership for Peace and Shared Prosperity’.

The Summit is expected to result in the adoption of the ‘ASEAN-India Vision Statement 2020’, which would chart the future direction of ASEAN-India relations. This would also include recommendations by the ASEAN-India Eminent Persons Group (AIEPG).

Enhancing relations with ASEAN has been central to India’s "Look East Policy" and there has been steady progress in theASEAN-India relationssince the policy was initiated in 1991. India became a sectoral
dialogue partner of ASEAN in 1992, which was upgraded to full dialogue partnership in 1996. Since 2002, we have had annual Summits with ASEAN.

ASEAN-India Commemorative year events

ASEAN and India share the desire that the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit be the culmination of a year-long
celebration of the partnership. India is planning a number of
G-2-G activities and
P-2-P initiatives in consultation with ASEAN capitals in the run up to the summit during the Commemorative year.

The Logo for the Commemorative Summit was launched by External Affairs Minister at a special event organized on the sidelines of the 10th ASEAN-India Ministerial Meeting in Phnom Penh.

External Affairs Minister with his ASEAN Counterparts at the launch of the logo forthe Special ASEAN-India Commomerative Summit in Phnom Penh (July 11, 2012)

Two flagship events being organized as part of the commemorative year events are the ASEAN Shipping Expedition of INS Sudarshini and the 2nd ASEAN-India Car Rally.

The INS Sudarshini Shipping Expedition proposed to take place from 15 September 2012 to 26 March 2013 would trace the ancient trade route
along the monsoon wind and is conceptualized to highlight India's maritime linkages with South East Asia and emphasize connectivity and networking between people of the region. The Shipping Expedition of INS Sudarshini would be flagged-off from Kochi, and
would call on ports in nine ASEAN countries. Various "Marker” events - B2B events by FICCI and ICC, Kolkata and cultural events by ICCR - are being organized at various ports of call.

The 2nd edition of the ASEAN-India Car Rally 2012 expected to take place from November 26 to December 16, 2012 would be flagged-off from
Yogjakarta, Indonesia. After passing through several capitals and cultural and commercial centres, having covered a distance of 7448 kms over 19 days, the Rally would be flagged-down at Guwahati on December 17, 2012. The rally would be received by the Leaders
of ASEAN and India in New Delhi on December 20, 2012, at the ASEAN-India Commemorative Summit. "Marker” events, including business seminars, tourism road-shows, cultural performances, etc. are also being organized along the route of the Car Rally by Department
of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), Ministry of Tourism and ICCR.

Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, accompanied by Smt. Gursharan Kaur, will pay an official visit to Japan from 15-18 November, 2012 at the invitation of the Prime Minister of Japan, H.E. Mr. Yoshihiko Noda.

During the visit, the two Prime Ministers will discuss bilateral, regional and global issues of common interest. Prime Minister and Smt. Kaur will be received in audience by the Emperor and Empress of Japan. Prime Minister will have meetings with other Japanese
leaders and also meet Japanese and Indian business leaders during the visit. The Annual Summit of the Prime Ministers will further enhance and strengthen the Strategic and Global Partnership between India and Japan.

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MEA2077020707Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Co-operation (IOR-ARC)IOR-ARC, a regional cooperation initiative of the Indian Ocean Rim countries, was established in Mauritius in March 1997 with the aim of promoting economic and technical cooperation. IOR-ARC is the only pan-Indian ocean grouping. It brings together countries
from three continents having different sizes, economic strengths, and a wide diversity of languages, cultures. It aims to create a platform for trade, socio-economic and cultural cooperation in the Indian Ocean rim area, which constitutes a population of about
two billion people. The Indian Ocean Rim is rich in strategic and precious minerals, metals and other natural resources, marine resources and energy, all of which can be sourced from Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ), continental shelves and the deep seabed.

To promote the sustained growth and balanced development of the region and of the Member States, and to create common ground for regional economic co-operation.

To focus on those areas of economic co-operation which provide maximum opportunities to develop shared interests and reap mutual benefits.

To explore all possibilities and avenues for trade liberalisation, to remove impediments to, and lower barriers towards, freer and enhanced flow of goods, services, investment, and technology within the region.

To encourage close interaction of trade and industry, academic institutions, scholars and the peoples of the Member States without any discrimination among Member States and without prejudice to obligations under other regional economic and trade co-operation
arrangements.

To strengthen co-operation and dialogue among Member States in international fora on global economic issues, and where desirable to develop shared strategies and take common positions in the international fora on issues of mutual interest; and

To promote co-operation in development of human resources, particularly through closer linkages among training institutions, universities and other specialised institutions of the Member States.

The Association has its own Charter and guidelines to include projects in its Work Programme.

Structure:

The apex body of the IOR-ARC is the Council of (Foreign) Ministers (COM). The meeting of the COM is preceded by the meetings of the Indian Ocean Rim Academic Group (IORAG), Indian Ocean Rim Business Forum (IORBF), Working Group on Trade and Investment (WGTI),
and the Committee of Senior Officials (CSO). The Secretariat of IOR-ARC is located at Port Louis, Mauritius.

Other structures include:

An IOR-ARC Special Fund, established in August 2004 to assist, support and encourage facilitation and promotion of economic cooperation activities, intellectual exchanges, studies and surveys or any other academic research, entrepreneurial or intellectual
exercise and in capacity-building at national and/or regional level to support implementation of projects, programmes, and activities in furtherance of the IOR-ARC objectives.

Routine meetings are held at the level of Heads of Missions of IOR-ARC countries, based in Pretoria. This Working Group of Heads of Mission (WGHM) takes stock of progress on issues and suggests ideas for the way forward. Thirteen meetings of this Working
Group have taken place so far.

Fisheries Support Unit (FSU), established in Oman, is envisaged to play an important role in enhancing the cooperation within the fisheries sector of IOR-ARC, better utilization of the fisheries resources, expertise exchange and conducting joint research
activities.

Regional Centre for Science and Transfer of Technology (RCSTT), established in 2008 in Tehran, has the status of a subsidiary body under IOR-ARC.

Maritime Transport Council (MTC) was adopted at the 10th meeting of COM in Sana'a Yemen in 2010. The proposed MTC is a regional specialized agency that promotes and defends the interests of member States to facilitate maritime transport. It strives towards
strengthening of the maritime transport cooperation in the IOR-ARC region.

Main decisions of the 11th Meeting of the Council of Ministers:

The 11th meeting of COM was held in Bengaluru on 15 November 2011 where India assumed Chair of IOR-ARC and Australia assumed the Vice Chair. India worked with other members to build consensus on themes of contemporary relevance to all members and for IOR-ARC
to focus on in the coming years. Six priority areas were identified to take forward the cooperation under IOR-ARC: (i) Maritime Safety and Security; (ii) Trade and Investment Facilitation; (iii) Fisheries Management; (iv) Disaster Risk Reduction; (v) Academic
and S&T Cooperation; and (vi) Tourism Promotion and Cultural Exchanges.

The 12th IOR-ARC Council of Ministers meeting will take place in Gurgaon on November 2, 2012. This would be the Second Council of Ministers Meeting of IOR-ARC under India's Chairmanship and would provide an opportunity to take stock of the progress that the
Association has made since the meeting in Bengaluru, and explore future directions and initiatives that can serve the common interests of the group. The Council of Ministers meeting will be preceded by meetings between academics, business, and Senior Officials.

In 2011, the combined GDP of IORARC member countries increased to an estimated US$ 6.5 trillion from US$ 5.7 trillion in 2010. The combined GDP of IORARC countries is expected to cross US$ trillion by 2016.

During the period from 2001 to 2011, the total trades of the region more than tripled, from US$ 1.1 trillion in 2001 to US$ 3.5 trillion in 2010. Exports increased from US$ 564 billion in 2001 to US$ 1.8 trillion in 2010. The imports by the member countries
have grown from US$ 507.6 in 2001 to US$ 1.7 trillion.

The share of IORARC region in global trade also increased from 8.6 % in 2001 to 11.6% in 2010.

India and IORARC Region: India’s total trade with the IORARC region has grown more than eight-fold from US$ 10 billion to US$ 156.3 billion during the period of 2001-2010. India’s exports to the region
amounted to US $ 69 billion while imports amounted to US$ 87.3 billion in 2010. India contributed 15.6 % of total intra-regional trade in 2010.

Programmes held under India’s Chairmanship

Foreign Service Institute (FSI) of India successfully conducted 2nd Professional Course for Diplomats from IORARC countries in New Delhi in April 2012.

A trade facilitation and Custom Harmonisation programme was jointly conducted by the Indian custom authorities in Mumbai in May 2012.

National Institute of Oceanography , Goa conducted a workshop on costal zone management in Goa in September 2012.

Meeting of Heads of National Archival Documents was also held in New Delhi in September 2012.

A mobile Exhibition of Archival Documents was also held in New Delhi in September 2012.

India has given five additional scholarship for IORARC countries under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) during 2012-13

The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) was created and founded during the collapse of the colonial system and the independence struggles of the peoples of Africa, Asia, Latin America and other regions of the world and at the height of the Cold War. During the early
days of the Movement, its actions were a key factor in the decolonization process, which led later to the attainment of freedom and independence by many countries and peoples and to the founding of tens of new sovereign States. Throughout its history, the
Movement of Non-Aligned Countries has played a fundamental role in the preservation of world peace and security.

While some meetings with a third-world perspective were held before 1955, historians consider that the Bandung Asian-African Conference is the most immediate antecedent to the creation of the Non-Aligned Movement. This Conference was held in Bandung on April
18-24, 1955 and gathered 29 Heads of States belonging to the first post-colonial generation of leaders from the two continents with the aim of identifying and assessing world issues at the time and pursuing out joint policies in international relations.

The principles that would govern relations among large and small nations, known as the "Ten Principles of Bandung", were proclaimed at that Conference. Such principles were adopted later as the main goals and objectives of the policy of non-alignment. The fulfillment
of those principles became the essential criterion for Non-Aligned Movement membership; it is what was known as the "quintessence of the Movement" until the early 1990s.

In 1960, in the light of the results achieved in Bandung, the creation of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries was given a decisive boost during the Fifteenth Ordinary Session of the United Nations General Assembly, during which 17 new African and Asian countries
were admitted. A key role was played in this process by the then Heads of State and Government Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt, Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, Shri Jawaharlal Nehru of India, Ahmed Sukarno of Indonesia and Josip Broz Tito of Yugoslavia, who later became
the founding fathers of the movement and its emblematic leaders.

Six years after Bandung, the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries was founded on a wider geographical basis at the First Summit Conference of Belgrade, which was held on September 1-6, 1961. The Conference was attended by 25 countries: Afghanistan, Algeria, Yemen,
Myanmar, Cambodia, Srilanka, Congo, Cuba, Cyprus, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Lebanon, Mali, Morocco, Nepal, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, Yugoslavia.

The Founders of NAM have preferred to declare it as a movement but not an organization in order to avoid bureaucratic implications of the latter.

The membership criteria formulated during the Preparatory Conference to the Belgrade Summit (Cairo, 1961) show that the Movement was not conceived to play a passive role in international politics but to formulate its own positions in an independent manner so
as to reflect the interests of its members.

Thus, the primary of objectives of the non-aligned countries focused on the support of self-determination, national independence and the sovereignty and territorial integrity of States; opposition to apartheid; non-adherence to multilateral military pacts and
the independence of non-aligned countries from great power or block influences and rivalries; the struggle against imperialism in all its forms and manifestations; the struggle against colonialism, neocolonialism, racism, foreign occupation and domination;
disarmament; non-interference into the internal affairs of States and peaceful coexistence among all nations; rejection of the use or threat of use of force in international relations; the strengthening of the United Nations; the democratization of international
relations; socioeconomic development and the restructuring of the international economic system; as well as international cooperation on an equal footing.

Since its inception, the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries has waged a ceaseless battle to ensure that peoples being oppressed by foreign occupation and domination can exercise their inalienable right to self-determination and independence.

During the 1970s and 1980s, the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries played a key role in the struggle for the establishment of a new international economic order that allowed all the peoples of the world to make use of their wealth and natural resources and provided
a wide platform for a fundamental change in international economic relations and the economic emancipation of the countries of the South.

During its nearly 50 years of existence, the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries has gathered a growing number of States and liberation movements which, in spite of their ideological, political, economic, social and cultural diversity, have accepted its founding
principles and primary objectives and shown their readiness to realize them. Historically, the non-aligned countries have shown their ability to overcome their differences and found a common ground for action that leads to mutual cooperation and the upholding
of their shared values.

The ten principles of Bandung

Respect of fundamental human rights and of the objectives and principles of the Charter of the United Nations.

Respect of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all nations.

Recognition of the equality among all races and of the equality among all nations, both large and small.

Non-intervention or non-interference into the internal affairs of another -country.

Respect of the right of every nation to defend itself, either individually or collectively, in conformity with the Charter of the United Nations.

A. Non-use of collective defense pacts to benefit the specific interests of any of the great powers.

B. Non-use of pressures by any country against other countries.

Refraining from carrying out or threatening to carry out aggression, or from using force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any country.

Peaceful solution of all international conflicts in conformity with the Charter of the United Nations.

Promotion of mutual interests and of cooperation.

Respect of justice and of international obligations.

Evolution

The creation and strengthening of the socialist block after the defeat of fascism in World War II, the collapse of colonial empires, the emergence of a bipolar world and the formation of two military blocks (NATO and the Warsaw Pact) brought about a new international
context that led to the necessity of multilateral coordination fora between the countries of the South .

In this context, the underdeveloped countries, most of them in Asia and Africa, felt the need to join efforts for the common defense of their interests, the strengthening of their independence and sovereignty and the cultural and economic revival or salvation
of their peoples, and also to express a strong commitment with peace by declaring themselves as "non-aligned" from either of the two nascent military blocks.

In order to fulfill the aims of debating on and advancing a strategy designed to achieve such objectives, the Bandung Asian-African Conference was held in Indonesia in April 1955. It was attended by 29 Heads of State and Government of the first postcolonial
generation of leaders and its expressed goal was to identify and assess world issues at the time and coordinate policies to deal with them.

Although the Asian and African leaders who gathered in Bandung might have had differing political and ideological views or different approaches toward the societies they aspired to build or rebuild, there was a common project that united them and gave sense
to a closer coordination of positions. Their shared program included the political decolonization of Asia and Africa. Moreover, they all agreed that the recently attained political independence was just a means to attain the goal of economic, social and cultural
independence.

The Bandung meeting has been considered as the most immediate antecedent of the founding of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries, which finally came into being six years later on a wider geographical basis when the First Summit Conference was held in Belgrade
on September 1-6, 1961. This gathering was attended by the Heads of State and Government of 25 countries and observers from another three nations.

This First Summit of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries was convened by the leaders of India, Indonesia, Egypt, Syria and Yugoslavia. On April 26, 1961, the Presidents of the Arab Republic of Egypt (Nasser) and Yugoslavia (Tito) addressed the Heads of State
and Government of 21 "non-Aligned" countries and suggested that, taking recent world events and the rise of international tensions into account, a Conference should be held to promote an improvement in international relations, a resistance to policies of force
and a constructive settlement of conflicts and other issues of concern in the world.

The Movement played an important role in the support of nations which were struggling then for their independence in the Third World and showed great solidarity with the most just aspirations of humanity. It contributed indisputably to the triumph in the struggle
for national independence and decolonization, thus gaining considerable diplomatic prestige.

As one Summit after another was held in the 1960s and 1970s, "non alignment", turned already into the "Movement of Non-Aligned Countries" that included nearly all Asian and African countries, was becoming a forum of coordination to struggle for the respect
of the economic and political rights of the developing world. After the attainment of independence, the Conferences expressed a growing concern over economic and social issues as well as over strictly political matters.

Something that attested to that was the launching at the Algiers Conference in 1973 of the concept of a "new international economic order."

By the end of the 1980s, the Movement was facing the great challenge brought about by the collapse of the socialist block. The end of the clash between the two antagonistic blocks that was the reason for its existence, name and essence was seen by some as the
beginning of the end for the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries.

The Movement of Non-Aligned Countries could not spare itself difficulties to act effectively in an adverse international political situation marked by hegemonic positions and unipolarity as well as by internal difficulties and conflicts given the heterogeneity
of its membership and, thus, its diverse interests.

Nevertheless, and in spite of such setbacks,the principles and objectives of non-alignment retain their full validity and force at the present international juncture. The primary condition that led to the emergence of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries,
that is, non-alignment from antagonistic blocks, has not lost its validity with the end of the Cold War. The demise of one of the blocks has not done away with the pressing problems of the world. On the contrary, renewed strategic interests bent on domination
grow stronger and, even, acquire new and more dangerous dimensions for underdeveloped countries.

During the 14th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in Havana, Cuba in September 2006, the Heads of States and Governments of the member countries reaffirmed their commitment to the ideals, principles and purposes upon which the movement was founded and with
the principles and purposes enshrined in the United Nations Charter.

The Heads of States and Governments stated their firm belief that the absence of two conflicting blocs in no way reduces the need to strengthen the movement as a mechanism for the political coordination of developing countries. In this regard they acknowledged
that it remains imperative to strengthen and revitalize the movement. To do so, they agreed to strengthen concrete action, unity and solidarity between all its members, based on respect for diversity, factors which are essential for the reaffirmation of the
identity and capacity of the movement to influence International relations.

They also stressed the need to promote actively a leading role for the movement in the coordination of efforts among member states in tackling global threats.

Inspired by the principles and purposes which were brought to the Non-Aligned Movement by the Bandung principles and during the First NAM Summit in Belgrade in 1961, the Heads of States and Governments of the member countries of the Non-Aligned Movement adopted
in their 14th Summit in Havana the following purposes and principles of the movement in the present International juncture:

I. Purposes:

a. To promote and reinforce multilateralism and, in this regard, strengthen the central role that the United Nations must play.

b. To serve as a forum of political coordination of the developing countries to promote and defend their common interests in the system of international relations

c. To promote unity, solidarity and cooperation between developing countries based on shared values and priorities agreed upon by consensus.

d. To defend international peace and security and settle all international disputes by peaceful means in accordance with the principles and the purposes of the UN Charter and International Law.

e. To encourage relations of friendship and cooperation between all nations based on the principles of International Law, particularly those enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations.

f. To promote and encourage sustainable development through international cooperation and, to that end, jointly coordinate the implementation of political strategies which strengthen and ensure the full participation of all countries, rich and poor, in the
international economic relations, under equal conditions and opportunities but with differentiated responsibilities.

g. To encourage the respect, enjoyment and protection of all human rights and fundamental freedoms for all, on the basis of the principles of universality, objectivity, impartiality and non-selectivity, avoiding politicization of human rights issues, thus ensuring
that all human rights of individuals and peoples, including the right to development, are promoted and protected in a balanced manner.

h. To promote peaceful coexistence between nations, regardless of their political, social or economic systems.

i. To condemn all manifestations of unilateralism and attempts to exercise hegemonic domination in international relations.

j. To coordinate actions and strategies in order to confront jointly the threats to international peace and security, including the threats of use of force and the acts of aggression, colonialism and foreign occupation, and other breaches of peace caused by
any country or group of countries.

k. To promote the strengthening and democratization of the UN, giving the General Assembly the role granted to it in accordance with the functions and powers outlined in the Charter and to promote the comprehensive reform of the United Nations Security Council
so that it may fulfill the role granted to it by the Charter, in a transparent and equitable manner, as the body primarily responsible for maintaining international peace and security.

l. To continue pursuing universal and non-discriminatory nuclear disarmament, as well as a general and complete disarmament under strict and effective international control and in this context, to work towards the objective of arriving at an agreement on a
phased program for the complete elimination of nuclear weapons within a specified framework of time to eliminate nuclear weapons, to prohibit their development, production, acquisition, testing, stockpiling, transfer, use or threat of use and to provide for
their destruction.

m. . To oppose and condemn the categorization of countries as good or evil based on unilateral and unjustified criteria, and the adoption of a doctrine of pre-emptive attack, including attack by nuclear weapons, which is inconsistent with international law,
in particular, the international legally-binding instruments concerning nuclear disarmament and to further condemn and oppose unilateral military actions, or use of force or threat of use of force against the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence
of Non-Aligned countries.

n. To encourage States to conclude agreements freely arrived at, among the States of the regions concerned, to establish new Nuclear Weapons-Free Zones in regions where these do not exist, in accordance with the provisions of the Final Document of the First
Special Session of the General Assembly devoted to disarmament (SSOD.1) and the principles adopted by the 1999 UN Disarmament Commission, including the establishment of a Nuclear Weapons Free Zone in the Middle East. The establishment of Nuclear Weapons-Free
Zones is a positive step and important measure towards strengthening global nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation.

o. To promote international cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and to facilitate access to nuclear technology, equipment and material for peaceful purposes required by developing countries.

p. To promote concrete initiatives of South-South cooperation and strengthen the role of NAM, in coordination with G.77, in the re-launching of North-South cooperation, ensuring the fulfillment of the right to development of our peoples, through the enhancement
of international solidarity.

q. To respond to the challenges and to take advantage of the opportunities arising from globalization and interdependence with creativity and a sense of identity in order to ensure its benefits to all countries, particularly those most affected by underdevelopment
and poverty, with a view to gradually reducing the abysmal gap between the developed and developing countries.

r. To enhance the role that civil society, including NGO´s, can play at the regional and international levels in order to promote the purposes, principles and objectives of the Movement.

II. Principles:

a. Respect for the principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations and International Law.

b. Respect for sovereignty, sovereign equality and territorial integrity of all States.

c. Recognition of the equality of all races, religions, cultures and all nations, both big and small.

d. Promotion of a dialogue among peoples, civilizations, cultures and religions based on the respect of religions, their symbols and values, the promotion and the consolidation of tolerance and freedom of belief.

e. Respect for and promotion of all human rights and fundamental freedoms for all, including the effective implementation of the right of peoples to peace and development.

f. Respect for the equality of rights of States, including the inalienable right of each State to determine freely its political, social, economic and cultural system, without any kind of interference whatsoever from any other State.

g. Reaffirmation of the validity and relevance of the Movement’s principled positions concerning the right to self-determination of peoples under foreign occupation and colonial or alien domination.

h. Non-interference in the internal affairs of States. No State or group of States has the right to intervene either directly or indirectly, whatever the motive, in the internal affairs of any other State.

i. Rejection of unconstitutional change of Governments.

j. Rejection of attempts at regime change

k. Condemnation of the use of mercenaries in all situations, especially in conflict situations.

l. Refraining by all countries from exerting pressure or coercion on other countries, including resorting to aggression or other acts involving the use of direct or indirect force, and the application and/or promotion of any coercive unilateral measure that
goes against International Law or is in any way incompatible with it, for the purpose of coercing any other State to subordinate its sovereign rights, or to gain any benefit whatsoever.

m. Total rejection of aggression as a dangerous and serious breach of International Law, which entails international responsibility for the aggressor.

n. Respect for the inherent right of individual or collective self-defense, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations.

o. Condemnation of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and systematic and gross violations of human rights, in accordance with the UN Charter and International Law.

p. Rejection of and opposition to terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, committed by whomever, wherever and for whatever purposes, as it constitutes one of the most serious threats to international peace and security. In this context, terrorism should
not be equated with the legitimate struggle of peoples under colonial or alien domination and foreign occupation for self-determination and national liberation.

q. Promotion of pacific settlement of disputes and abjuring, under any circumstances, from taking part in coalitions, agreements or any other kind of unilateral coercive initiative in violation of the principles of International Law and the Charter of the United
Nations.

r. Defense and consolidation of democracy, reaffirming that democracy is a universal value based on the freely expressed will of people to determine their own political, economic, social, and cultural systems and their full participation in all aspects of their
life.

s. Promotion and defense of multilateralism and multilateral organizations as the appropriate frameworks to resolve, through dialogue and cooperation, the problems affecting humankind.

t. Support to efforts by countries suffering internal conflicts to achieve peace, justice, equality and development.

u. The duty of each State to fully and in good faith comply with the international treaties to which it is a party, as well as to honor the commitments made in the framework of international organizations, and to live in peace with other States. v. Peaceful
settlement of all international conflicts in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations.

w. Defense and promotion of shared interests, justice and cooperation, regardless of the differences existing in the political, economic and social systems of the States, on the basis of mutual respect and the equality of rights.

x. Solidarity as a fundamental component of relations among nations in all circumstances.

y. Respect for the political, economic, social and cultural diversity of countries and peoples.

The movement has succeeded to create a strong front on the International level, representing countries of the third world in the International organizations on top of which the United Nations.

Current Challenges facing the NAM include the necessity of protecting the principles of International law, eliminating weapons of mass destruction , combating terrorism, defending human rights, working toward making the United Nations more effective in meeting
the needs of all its member states in order to preserve International Peace , Security and Stability, as well as realizing justice in the international economic system.

On the other hand, the long-standing goals of the Movement remain to be realized. Peace, development, economic cooperation and the democratization of international relations, to mention just a few, are old goals of the non-aligned countries.

In conclusion, The Non-Aligned Movement, faced with the goals yet to be reached and the many new challenges that are arising, is called upon to maintain a prominent and leading role in the current International relations in defense of the interests and priorities
of its member states and for achievement of peace and security for mankind.

15th Summit: July 11-16, 2009, Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt
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MEA2035020352India’s participation at XVI NAM Summit at TehranPrime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh will be participating in the XVI Summit Meeting of the Heads of State and Government of the Non-Aligned Movement which is being held
at Tehran, Iran on 30-31 August, 2012. Prime Minister Dr. Singh had also participated in the last two NAM Summits held at Sharm El Sheik, Egypt in July 2009 and at Havana, Cuba in September 2006.

The Summit level meeting will be preceded by a customary Ministerial meeting on 28-29 August and a Senior Officials Meeting on 26-27 August. External Affairs Minister Shri S. M. Krishna will lead the Indian delegation to the Ministerial Meeting. EAM will also
represent India at the Ministerial meeting of the NAM Committee on Palestine that will be held on 28 August. Foreign Secretary Shri Ranjan Mathai will head the Indian delegation for the Senior Officials meeting.

The Summit Conference of Heads of State or Government is the highest decision-making authority of the Non-Aligned Movement. At the Tehran Summit, the Chairmanship of NAM
will pass on from Egypt to Iran in accordance with the NAM’s practice of regional rotation. The theme of the Tehran Summit is "Lasting Peace through Joint Global Governance”. In accordance with NAM practice, the Summit would focus in a comprehensive manner
on global regional and sub-regional issues as well as issues relating to development and human rights and social issues. Usually the NAM Summit meetings adopt a Final Document listing the Movement’s position on all important international issues as well as
Special Declarations proposed by the host or other members.

NAM does not have formal structures such as a Secretariat or a Constitution. The Chair is delegated the responsibility of promoting the principles and activities of the Movement as well as providing the administrative structure and coordinating its work. The
NAM Coordinating Bureau (NAM-CoB) in New York serves as the focal point for coordination of the Movement’s work. All decisions by the Movement are made by consensus in accordance with the Cartagena Document on Methodology adopted at the 11th NAM Summit in
Cartagena (Colombia) in October 1995. The Document notes that consensus, while signifying substantial agreement, does not require or imply unanimity. The Document also notes that on sensitive issues, particular attention should be paid to openness and the
holding of extensive consultations with the broadest possible participation.

NAM and India

The Non–Aligned Movement stands for principles which India has always espoused and pursued in international affairs: sovereign equality of states; respect for territorial integrity, a peaceful, equitable and just world order; and the progress of developing
countries through socio-economic development.

As a founding-member of the Non-Aligned Movement, India has consistently striven to ensure that the Movement moves forward on the basis of cooperation and constructive engagement rather than confrontation, and straddles the differences of the traditional North-South
divide. India's broad approach to the NAM Summit in Tehran would be oriented towards channelling the Movement's energies to focus on issues that unite rather than divide its diverse membership so that the Movement can continue to serve as an effective voice
for the genuine concerns of developing countries.

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MEA20352202029th World Hindi Conference The Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India with the support of Hindi Shiksha Sangh, South Africa and other stakeholders
is organizing the Ninth World Hindi Conference [WHC] in Johannesburg, South Africa from 22-24 September, 2012. The Conference will be held at the Sandton Convention Centre, 2nd Floor, Maude Street, Sandton-2196, Johannesburg, South Africa.

The tradition of the World Hindi Conferences began with the first conference having been organized in Nagpur in the year 1975. Since then, these conferences have achieved a global profile and momentum of their own. The subsequent eight World Hindi Conferences
were organized in different cities, namely, twice in Port Louis (Mauritius), once each in New Delhi (India), Port of Spain (Trinidad and Tobago), London (UK), Paramaribo (Suriname) and New York (USA). All these conferences have always attracted a galaxy of
renowned scholars and followers of Hindi. In keeping with the growing reach and popularity of this event, the Government has decided to organize the next conference in Johannesburg, South Africa, which would also be an apt recognition of India’s historic,
close and growing ties with the whole of the African continent. South Africa also carries the profound memories of Mahatma Gandhi’s association with that region.

The 9th World Hindi Conference would deliberate on a series of traditional and contemporary themes related with both classical
and modern aspects of Hindi. The theme of the conference this year will be "Bhasha ki Asmita Aur Hindi Ka Vaishvik Sandarbh”. The conference would also have nine academic sessions on such subjects as Mahatma Gandhi’s linguistic vision; Hindi and modern technology;
role of Indian epics in propagation of Hindi; contribution of foreign scholars in dissemination of Hindi; Mass media and Hindi, etc.

Minister of State for External Affairs Smt. Preneet Kaur at the media launch of the Logo and Website of the 9th World Hindi Conference in New Delhi (July 18, 2012)

As per the order and direction of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India during hearing in SLP(C) No.28609/2011 on 23.07.2012, Mr. Harris Beeran, Advocate will look into the scrutiny of application of Private Tour Operators (PTOs) and their grievances. Any aggrieved
PTO can contact Mr. Harris Beeran on the following contact latest by Wednesday, July 25, 2012 at 1730 hrs.

It was a standing-room-only crowd Thursday at the Taj Palace Hotel’s Shahjehan Hall, as Afghan government officials and business executives wooed foreign investors at an all-day conference in New Delhi.

Hundreds of businesspeople and diplomats were in the audience, including representatives from China, Iran, Kazakhstan and Turkey, as well as from multinational conglomerates, including General Electric, Exxon Mobil and JPMorgan Chase.

Investment-led domestic economic growth will "ensure the economic stability of the country in the current period of transition” and in the coming years, Zalmai Rassoul, Afghanistan’s minister of foreign affairs, told the crowd.

Fahim Hashimi, the president of the Hashimi Group and director of international affairs for the Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Industries, expressed optimism about the country’s development, saying, "From a decade of turmoil, conflict and mismanagement,
to an emerging market, Afghanistan has come a long way.”

As the United States and Europe wind down their military presence in the country, the Afghan government is hoping to replace foreign aid with taxes and profits from domestic industry. So dependent is Afghanistan on external aid that in 2010, international assistance
amounted to roughly 97 percent of the country’s gross domestic product, according to a commonly cited World Bank estimate.

Thursday’s conference, sponsored by the Confederation of Indian Industry, is part of India’s recent increase in engagement with Afghanistan.

Afghanistan’s Ministry of Commerce distributed a booklet full of investment opportunities at the conference, led by a more than $10 billion pipeline project to deliver natural gas from Turkmenistan to both Pakistan and India. Other options included a $23 million
cement plant in Jabal-e Seraj (the handout added that "any investment in the cement sector of Afghanistan would be welcomed”), a $6.6 million investment in saffron processing and a $5 million "poultry economic development package.”

Afghanistan is passing a number of laws designed to make the country friendly for foreign investment, said Prasoon Sadozai, the director of legal and regulatory affairs for Afghanistan’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry, like allowing 100 percent ownership
of shares in a company by foreign investors, eliminating export taxes on any goods made or assembled in Afghanistan and allowing foreign companies to roll over loses from one year to the next to offset taxes.

Bloomberg, Samsung and Sony have already registered their companies with Afghanistan’s business registration board, he added.

The country has no restrictions on foreign investment in any sector, can provide land in industrial parks at reduced rents and is building tax-free zones, Wafiullah Iftekhar, the director of the Afghanistan Investment Support Agency, told the crowd.

Foreign attendees mentioned security and corruption as their biggest concerns about doing business in Afghanistan. But several seemed keenly interested in trying to secure a partner there.

Kakizaki Shinsuke, the chief representative in India for Mitsui-Soko International, a Japanese logistics company, said he’d been trying to do business in India for a year and a half and found the competition tough. One way to jump start business is to "go first,”
he said, and Afghanistan presents that opportunity. He had already spoken to several Afghan logistics companies, and said he hoped to partner with one of them so they could use Mitsui-Soko’s international network.

Plenty of attendees from Afghanistan were seeking the same.

Saba Sahar, in a glittery silver top, black headscarf and rhinestone-studded glasses, said she came from Afghanistan in search of investors for her film production company. "Afghanistan and India should work together to make films to show their common culture,”
she said through an interpreter. She said she was looking for someone to invest in films about social issues, including women’s rights and violence against women.

Ahmad Zubir Arian, internal audit manager of Afghanistan’s Safi Group, said he came searching for mining companies to partner with his company. "The mining sector is a new thing in Afghanistan, and we want professional companies,” he said.

What about the American government’s efforts to help Afghanistan grow its domestic economy?

"They are, you know, trying,” Mr. Arian said, "but I feel customs and traditions are very important.” He’d prefer to find an Indian partner, he said. Indian companies and Indian people have a long relationship with Afghanistan, he said, and "we can easily understand
each other.”

Questions from the floor after presentations ranged from the practical to the idealistic. "Yours is such a beautiful country,” one man said, noting that was his impression only from flying over it. But, he said, the tourism sector has not yet been discussed.
Would there be programs for developing that as well?

"Ah, well…,” Hazrat Omar Zakhilwal, Afghanistan’s minister of finance, said with a heavy sigh. "Let me say there are four flights a day and I would like that to double,” he said, adding that he hoped the planes would be full of tourists from India coming in,
rather than Afghans going out for medical treatment.

Security was widely discussed, both during presentations and privately.

"Security is an issue,” said M. Ayuob Omarzada, first secretary (economic) at the Afghanistan embassy in New Delhi, in an interview. "But Afghanistan is a good source, especially of minerals and mines. A lot of opportunity is there.”

In Afghanistan, Mr. Hashimi promised in his presentation, "you will not see a company closed because of security.” But uncertainty is a "prominent challenge for investors,” he said, adding "just like anywhere else in the world.”

Afghanistan has recently signed a number of partnership agreements with foreign governments including the United States, India and Britain, Mr. Iftekhar of the investment agency noted. "This will, inshallah, remove any uncertainties,” he said.
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MEA1994920341Delhi Investment Summit on AfghanistanDelhi Investment Summit on Afghanistan ( Click here )
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MEA2034119952India-ASEAN CooperationThe Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, was established on 8 August 1967 in Bangkok, Thailand, with the signing of the ASEAN declaration (Bangkok Declaration) by the Founding Fathers of ASEAN, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore
and Thailand.

Brunei Darussalam then joined on 7 January 1984, Viet Nam on 28 July 1995, Lao PDR and Myanmar on 23 July 1997, and Cambodia on 30 April 1999, making up what is today the ten Member States of ASEAN.

ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (AMM)

Since ASEAN was established in 1967, the Foreign Affairs Ministers of all the member countries meet annually, with informal meetings and retreats in between. The 45th AMM was held in Phnom Penh on 6-13 July 2012. India will be participating in all the meetings
of which it is a member. For example, ASEAN-India Ministerial Meeting, East Asia Summit Ministerial Meeting and ASEAN Regional Forum Ministerial Meeting. Last ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (44th AMM) took place in Bali, Indonesia, 16-23 July 2011.

Joint Statement of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the Russian Federation on the Occasion of the 15th Anniversary of the ASEAN-Russia Dialogue Partnership, Bali, Indonesia, 22 July 2011

The Twenty-Sixth ASEAN Ministerial Meeting and Post Ministerial Conference, which were held in Singapore on 23-25 July 1993, agreed to establish the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF). The inaugural meeting of the ARF was held in Bangkok on 25 July 1994.

Objectives :

The objectives of the ASEAN Regional Forum are outlined in the First ARF Chairman's Statement (1994), namely :

To foster constructive dialogue and consultation on political and security issues of common interest and concern; and

To make significant contributions to efforts towards confidence-building and preventive diplomacy in the Asia-Pacific region.

The 27th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (1994) stated that "The ARF could become an effective consultative Asia-Pacific Forum for promoting open dialogue on political and security cooperation in the region. In this context, ASEAN should work with its ARF partners
to bring about a more predictable and constructive pattern of relations in the Asia Pacific."

Achievements

On the tenth year of the ASEAN Regional Forum, the ARF Ministers met in Phnom Penh on 18 June 2003 and declared that "despite the great diversity of its membership, the forum had attained a record of achievements that have contributed to the maintenance
of peace, security and cooperation in the region." They cited in particular:

The usefulness of the ARF as a venue for multilateral and bilateral dialogue and consultations and the establishment of effective principles for dialogue and cooperation, featuring decision-making by consensus, non-interference, incremental progress and
moving at a pace comfortable to all.

The willingness among ARF participants to discuss a wide range of security issues in a multilateral setting and mutual confidence gradually built by cooperative activities and cultivation of habits of dialogue and consultation on political and security
issues.

The transparency promoted by such ARF measures as the exchange of information relating to defence policy and the publication of defence white papers and

The networking developed among national security, defence and military officials of ARF participants.

ARF Chair

Based on the ARF Concept Paper, which the ARF adopted on 1 August 1995, the ARF shall be chaired by the Chairman of the ASEAN Standing Committee.

India-ASEAN Cooperation

Our relations with ASEAN have grown since we became its Sectoral-level partner in 1992, an event which coincided with our own economic reforms process. These events enabled us to re-fashion our ‘Look East’ policy with ASEAN. The essential ingredient of
this policy was the renewal of our civilisational linkages with our neighbours in South East and East Asia and the need to integrate with South East and East Asia whose economies have immense potential as partners for a dynamic Indian economy on a high growth
path. This relationship has been growing steadily and has acquired qualitatively new dimensions, particularly since 2002, when we began our annual Summit level dialogue with ASEAN.

ASEAN-India cooperation now covers a wide field, including Trade & Investment, Science & Technology, Information and Communication technology, biotechnology, advanced materials, space sciences and their applications, tourism, human resource development,
transport & infrastructure, health and pharmaceuticals. Several new initiatives were announced at the last India-ASEAN Summit in October 2010.

An important cornerstone of our engagement with ASEAN in terms of parliamentary contacts was reached when India was granted observer status at the 31st ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly at Hanoi in September 2010. This gave impetus to the people to people
contacts between the people of the vibrant member states of ASEAN and the largest democracy in the world, India.

Over the past few decades, together we have added strategic importance to our developing ties. India’s participation in the ASEAN Regional Forum and ADMM+ process has added depth to our relationship. India strongly supports various initiatives taken to
improve connectivity between countries in the region. We are committed to bringing India and ASEAN even closer to each other through exploring our synergies to realize full potential of our relationship.

ASEAN-India Agreement on Trade-in-Goods is a major step forward in this direction and we are looking forward to concluding the Agreement on Trade in Investment and Services. We would like to work with ASEAN to bring about our vision of regional economic
integration and put together a Comprehensive Economic Partnership in East Asia.

In this quest for enhanced regional co operation and integration, we are engaged with several ASEAN countries’ through forums such as BIMSTEC, Mekong Ganga Cooperation, and East Asia Summit. Our participation in the East Asia Summit is a natural corollary
of our growing multi-faceted engagement with ASEAN and our common desire for enhancing economic cooperation in East Asia which we consider an open and inclusive process.

India and ASEAN have adopted a draft Plan of Action for 2010-15 in October, 2010 at India-ASEAN Summit at Hanoi.

We are celebrating the 20th anniversary of ASEAN –India dialogue partnership and 10th anniversary of ASEAN –India summit level partnership hence 2012 marks the commemorative year of the partnership between ASEAN and India. India is going to host this commemorative
summit in December 2012.

Sustainable development as a concept and strategy of socio-economic advancement entered the global discourse around the 1980's. The first UN Conference on Environment and
Development (UNCED) was organized in 1992 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The Summit level meeting, inter alia, adopted the Agenda 21 which became the global template for promoting sustainable development in subsequent years. The UNCED, or 'Rio Earth Summit' as
it popularly came to be known, was followed by the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) held in Johannesburg in 2002 with the aim give further impetus to the sustainable development paradigm. The Summit came up with a Johannesburg Declaration and
a Johannesburg Plan of Implementation (JPOI).

Agenda 21 recommended the establishment of an institutional mechanism for effective follow-up to the Rio Conference as well as to enhance international cooperation and rationalize
the intergovernmental decision-making capacity for the integration of environment and development issues and to examine the progress in the implementation of Agenda 21 at the national, regional and international levels. Accordingly, the UN General Assembly
in 1992, created the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) as a functional commission of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) with the mandate to review progress in the implementation of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development.

Rio+ 20 Conference :

The UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) will be held on June 20-22, June 2012 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The Conference is being held 20 years after the Earth Summit in 1992, Rio de Janeiro, and is therefore, also called Rio+20. Rio+20 is being
seen as an important occasion for the global community to reaffirm its commitment to sustainable development and look for innovative templates to spur global action on sustainability.

The objectives of the UNCSD 2012 are :

Securing renewed Political commitment for sustainable development

Assessing the Progress made since Rio Conference and the remaining gaps in implementation of the outcomes

Addressing new and emerging challenges.

The themes for the UNCSD 2012 are :

Green Economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication; and

Institutional Framework for sustainable development

Preparatory Process

A series of interactive meetings involving different stakeholders have taken place since 2010. The UNCSD Secretariat has organized two Preparatory Committee Meetings so far. During the last few months, various countries have hosted high level meetings on
specific thematic areas, in order to facilitate greater understanding and promote consensus building on the key issues involved in the two themes. India has been actively involved in this process and the Delhi Ministerial Dialogue held in October, 2011, which
focused on the theme 'Green Economy and Inclusive Growth' had the participation of 41 countries and 9 multilateral organizations. In addition, Regional Preparatory Meetings for 5 geographical Regions around the globe have also been held under the aegis of
ECOSOC.

Inputs from these meetings are fed into the preparation of the Zero Draft of the 'Outcome Document' which is to be adopted at Rio+20. India's National Inputs have been finalized
and communicated after an extensive process of inter-ministerial consultations, research by select technical organizations and engagement with stakeholders and can be accessed below. After the initial discussions on the Zero draft on January 25-27, 2012, three
rounds of 'informal-informal' negotiations have been held so far at the UN headquarters, the latest one having culminated on June 02, 2012. The third meeting of the Preparatory Committee will be held in Rio on June 13-15, 2012 where the document will be further
negotiated, before the Summit on June 20-22, 2012.

Green Economy

In the run up to RIO+20, the theme of "Green Economy" has attracted wide attention. Developing countries are of the view that Sustainable Development as defined by the Rio principles along with its three pillars viz., economic, social and environmental
must continue to define global development path. In their understanding, green economy is subsumed in this broader framework and action on green growth can only be achieved if an enabling mechanism consisting of finance, technology and capacity building support
is provided to developing countries. They further believe that "Green Economy" as a template will succeed only if it enhances their ability to address poverty eradication, provides adequate policy space for national circumstances and priorities, and ensures
that structural changes as a result of it do not lead to green protectionism and conditionalities.

India's position on "Green Economy" is essentially one which directly relates the green economy to the overriding priorities of poverty eradication, food security, access to modern energy services and employment generation. India believes that "Green Economy"
is a dynamic concept intended to infuse every activity towards poverty eradication with sustainability, thereby greening the economy as we develop economically, socially and environmentally. India believes that any understanding on "Green Economy" must take
into account the principles of Equity and Common But Differentiated Responsibility (CBDR). It also sees RIO+20 as an opportunity to bring back Sustainable Development to the centre of the global development agenda.

"Green Economy" should take into account the differential capacities of different countries. The risk of rushing into formalizing the "green" model is of devising a new international norm for development that could possibly 'delegitimize' all other developmental
models, including the ones that countries like India are adopting for their own socio-economic development and poverty alleviation. As Prime Minister Indira Gandhi remarked in 1972 at Stockholm, "poverty is the greatest polluter." Some have also pointed out
that the paradigm shift that may underlie the advocacy of 'green' models could possibly be one of the ways that the developed countries may adopt to preserve their economic advantage vis-à-vis the emerging economies of the world, who are fast catching up and
in many areas. The fundamental goal of "sustainable development", which has certain flexibility for each country according to its capacity and development imperatives, is not supplanted by a new prescriptive and globally standardized growth model which could
then raise questions about our own development path and for which developing countries are still quite ill-equipped in terms of required resources. Equally important is the sustainability of livelihood. The overriding objective of socio-economic development
and poverty eradication in the developing countries cannot be diluted by setting new norms for development. In addition to the fact that there has to be an equal emphasis on the imperative for developed countries to make enabling resources - both financial
and technological - available to developing countries in an affordable and transparent manner to achieve any gradual transition to "Green Economy", it is also important that a country's natural resource endowment is given due consideration in any discourse
on transition to "Green Economy".

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

A set of Sustainable Development Goals is being seen as a potential deliverable as part of the outcome at Rio+20. There are proposals for such goals both, quantitative and qualitative, under different chapters of the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation.
Given the time available, it is being proposed that a process may be launched at Rio+20 to negotiate and adopt SDGs at a later date leading upto a common track post-2015. India does not favor setting of quantitative targets which would serve to constrain economic
development, without provision of means of implementation to developing countries. Moreover, the principle of Common But Differentiated Responsibilities (CBRD) must be upheld in any implementation-focused outcome on sustainable development at Rio+20. Unlike
the MDGs which were focused on implementation by developing countries only, the SDGs should not only be for everyone, but, in terms of the principle of CBDR, developed countries should take the lead in taking on targets first.

Institutional Framework for Sustainable Development

The need to strengthen global Institutional Framework to promote Sustainable Development (IFSD) is well recognised. There is an understanding among countries that the present fragmented sustainable development architecture within the UN system and the existence
of a plethora of multilateral environmental agreements need better coordination and coherence. Several ideas on the subject are under discussion ranging from converting the existing Commission on Sustainable Development into a Sustainable Development Council
(SDC), or upgrading UNEP into an umbrella international organization and/or creation of a high-level political forum under the ECOSOC and/or the UN General Assembly to give high level political visibility to sustainable development. Most developing countries
feel that the question of IFSD has to be seen in the broader context of balance between its economic, social and environmental dimensions, while giving due cognizance to the needs and constraints of the developing countries, particularly the transfer of enabling
and affordable financial and technological resources and capacity building assistance.

The Group of Twenty, or G20, is the premier forum for international cooperation on the most important aspects of the international economic and financial agenda. It brings together the world’s major advanced and emerging economies.

a) Policy coordination between its members in order to achieve global economic stability, sustainable growth;
b) To promote financial regulations that reduce risks and prevent future financial crises; and
c) To create a new international financial architecture.

Origin and Evolution

The G20 was created in response to both to the financial crises that arose in a number of emerging economies in the 1990s and to a growing recognition that some of these countries were not adequately represented in global economic discussion and governance.

In December 1999, the Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors of advanced and emerging countries of systemic importance met for the first time in Berlin, Germany, for an informal dialogue on key issues for global economic stability. Since then, Finance
Ministers and Central Bank Governors have met annually. India hosted a meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors in 2002. G20 was raised to the Summit level in 2008 to address the global financial and economic crisis of 2008.

Organizational Structure of G20

The G-20 operates without a permanent secretariat or staff. The chair rotates annually among the members and is selected from a different regional grouping of countries. The chair is part of a revolving three-member management group of past, present and future
chairs referred to as the Troika. The current chair of the G-20 is Mexico; the next Chair will be Russia.

The preparatory process for the G20 Summit is conducted through the established Sherpa and Finance tracks that prepare and follow up on the issues and commitments adopted at the Summits. The Sherpas’ Track focuses on non-economic and financial issues, such
as development, anti-corruption and food security, while addressing internal aspects such as procedural rules of the G20 process. The Sherpas carry out important planning, negotiation and implementation tasks continuously.

The Finance Track focuses on economic and financial issues. The Sherpa and Finance tracks both rely on the technical and substantive work of a series of expert working groups. Additionally, the thematic agenda is developed through the organization of several
Ministerial Meetings, such as the Joint Meeting of Finance and Development Ministers, and the Labour, Agriculture and Tourism Ministerial meetings. G20 Leaders Summits

Six G20 Summits have been held so far. TheFirst Summit was hosted by the US Presidentin Washington in November
2008 to develop a coordinated response to the global financial crisis. At the First Summit, the Leaders discussed the causes of the global economic and financial crisis and agreed to implement an Action Plan around three main objectives, namely,

Restoring global growth,

Strengthening the international financial system and

Reforming international financial institutions

TheSecond Summit in London in April 2009 came up with a stimulus package of US$ 1.1 trillion to restore credit and growth and strong regulatory
provisions, expansion of Financial Stability Forum (renamed as ‘Financial Stability Board’ or FSB) and Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS), reiteration of commitment against protectionist trends (including trade, investment and services) and commitment
to reform of International Financial Institutions.

TheThird Summit in Pittsburgh in September 2009 designated the G20 as the ‘premier forum’ for international economic cooperation. The
main outcomes of the Pittsburgh Summit included to foster a ‘Framework for Strong, Sustainable and Balanced Growth’ in the 21st century through sound macroeconomic policies that prevent cycles of boom and bust through a Mutual Assessment Process (MAP) or ‘peer
review’ which is co-chaired by India, a decision to reform the IFIs by shifting IMF’s quota share to dynamic Emerging Markets and Developing Countries (EMDCs) of at least 5% from over-represented countries to under-represented countries, adoption of a dynamic
formula for the World Bank to generate an increase of at least 3% voting power for developing and transition countries that are under-represented; and ensuring that World Bank and Regional Development Banks (RDBs) have sufficient resources to address global
challenges.

TheFourth Summit in Toronto in June 2010 under the theme ‘Recovery and New Beginnings’ focused on the ‘Framework for Strong, Sustainable
and Balanced Growth’ and completion of Phase-I work comprising MAP (or ‘peer review’) by groupings of countries. Advanced economies have committed to fiscal consolidation, i.e. halving of fiscal deficit by 2013 and stabilizing debt by 2016 as part of internal
re-balancing. An agreement was also reached on differentiated approach to consolidating growth and recovery versus exit strategies and fiscal consolidation, i.e. ‘growth-friendly fiscal consolidation’. ‘Development’ was introduced for the first time on the
G20 agenda to be addressed through a High-Level Development Working Group (DWG).

The highlight of theFifth Summit in Seoul in November 2010 under the theme ‘Shared Growth Beyond Crisis’ was the launching of the G20
Development Agenda embodied in the Multi-Year Action Plans (MYAP) under the nine development pillars, viz., Infrastructure (including a High-level Panel on infrastructure financing), Human Resources Development, Trade, Private Investment and Job Creation,
Food Security, Growth with Resilience, Domestic Resource Mobilization, Knowledge Sharing and Financial Inclusion.

TheSixth G20 Summit in Cannes in November 2011 reviewed the global economic situation in the backdrop of the Eurozone/Greek crisis. Its
major outcomes included regulation of commodity derivatives markets, including Action Plan on Food Price Volatility and Agriculture and increase in transparency of energy markets and an expression of support for recommendations of High Level Panel and MDBs
Action Plan on development. The outcome of the Cannes Summit resulted in the 'Communique' and 'Declaration' titled 'Building our Common Future: Renewed Collective Action for the Benefit of All' along with the 'Cannes Action Plan for Growth and Jobs'.

The Seventh G20 Summit : Priorities of the Mexican Presidency

The Seventh G20 Summit is being held in Los Cabos, Mexcio on 18-19 June 2012 under the Mexican Presidency. Mexico has identified the following as its priorities :

To promote economic stabilization and structural reforms as foundations for growth and employment;

Strengthening the financial system and fostering financial inclusion to promote economic growth;

Improving the international financial architecture in an interconnected world;

To promote sustainable development, green growth and the fight against climate change.

The G20 has, since the Pittsburgh framework and the Seoul Development Consensus, recognized that development and global economic issues cannot be tackled separately. Development is crucial for global economic growth, poverty reduction and employment creation.
Development Working Group was set up in 2010 under the Sherpas' Track to complement the G20’s economic and financial agenda through multi-sectoral efforts to assist developing countries in areas of importance for the welfare of their societies.

In its first report submitted at the Cannes Summit in 2011, the DWG clarified that the G20 development agenda is not a substitute for existing commitments on development, especially the United Nations Millennium Declaration. Taking forward the development agenda
under the G20 DWG, Mexico has chosen the Infrastructure, Food Security and Inclusive Green Growth as its development priorities.

India and G-20

India’s participation in the G20 process stems from the realization that as a major developing economy India has a vital stake in the stability of the international economic and financial system.

India has been actively involved in the G20 preparatory process both at the Sherpas Track and the Financial Track since its inception. The Prime Minister participated in all six G20 summits. India’s agenda at the G20 Summits is driven by the need to bring in
greater inclusivity in the financial system, to avoiding protectionist tendencies and above all for ensuring that growth prospects of developing countries do not suffer. India has strived to ensure that the focus of the global community remains on the need
to ensure adequate flow of finances to emerging economies to meet their developmental needs.

India has welcomed the inclusion of development as an agenda item of G20 process at the Seoul Summit and supported the Seoul Development Consensus and the associated Multi-Year Action plans. Prime Minster called for the recycling of surplus savings into investments
in developing countries to not only address immediate demand imbalances but also developmental imbalances. .

India has worked to maintain the dynamism and credibility of G20 deliberations for establishing a framework for strong, sustainable and balanced growth, strengthening international financial regulatory systems, reforming Bretton Woods’s institutions, facilitating
trade finance, pushing forward the Doha agenda.

India remains committed to the G20 process for achieving a stable, inclusive and representative global economic and financial system.

Press Releases and Statements related to India’s participation at G-20

G20 Washington Summit Declaration on Financial Markets and the World Economy
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MEA1997919980Registration of Private Tour Operators - Haj 2012
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MEA1998019192Consultations on a draft Charter of the Commonwealth

An Eminent Persons Group (EPG) of the Commonwealth recommended to Heads of Government in 2010 that a 'Charter of the Commonwealth' be established after the widest possible consultation in every Commonwealth country. While there was a wide range of views
expressed on this recommendation at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Perth, Australia (28-30 October, 2011), Commonwealth Leaders finally agreed in principle that there should be a ‘Charter of the Commonwealth', embodying the principles
contained in previous declarations, drawn together in a single, consolidated document that is not legally binding. It was further decided that a text for the Charter will be agreed to, following a process of national consultations, as suggested by the EPG.

With this in mind, a draft Charter of the Commonwealth as circulated by the Commonwealth Secretariat is placed below, to solicit comments from the public with an interest in the Commonwealth. Comments on this draft Charter, including suggestions for additional
or alternative language with justification for the same may kindly be sent to Shri Mridu Pawan Das, Under Secretary (UNP), Ministry of External Affairs [Room No. 270-A, South Block; Tel: (011) 23017473 Fax: (011) 23792136 E-mail: usunp[at]mea[dot]gov[dot]in]
by 23 March, 2012.

A DRAFT CHARTER OF THE COMMONWEALTH

WE THE PEOPLE OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS

PREAMBLE

REMEMBERING the historic evolution that, by the wisdom and resolve of our forebears, transformed an imperial dominion over our nations and peoples into a free association of member nations to which we, the peoples of the Commonwealth of Nations, belong;

RECALLING the sacrifices and struggles, the pain and sorrow of earlier times and the achievement of the independence of our nations within the Commonwealth, each nation responsible for its own laws, practices and policies but co-operating in the Commonwealth
in the interests of their peoples and promoting the objectives of international understanding and world peace; [Harare, par.2];

CELEBRATING the shared experiences of history and language [Harare, par.3], similar institutions and aspirations and including peoples of many different races and origins, encompassing every state of economic development and comprising an unequalled
variety of races, origins, cultures, religions, traditions and institutions of the world [Harare, par.(2)].

MINDFUL that economic and social development must remain a primary and urgent goal for the great majority of the people of the Commonwealth and therefore of the Commonwealth itself;

RECOGNISING that the Commonwealth today comprises more than 50 nations; more than 2 billion people; and more than 1 billion young people who have a special potential to promote development, peace and democracy, to uphold Commonwealth values and to achieve
the Commonwealth's aspirations for the future which they will further inherit and determine;

REJOICING in the family of nations and peoples that is the Commonwealth and cherishing the links that connect our nations and peoples together in friendship for one another, at peace with the world;

DETERMINING that, in each succeeding generation, we will strengthen the bonds that connect us together and broaden and deepen our links of friendship, co-operation, trade and shared values and aspirations;

ACKNOWLEDGING the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1948, whose proclamation coincided with, and heralded, the birth of the Commonwealth itself in its present form; and

AFFIRMING that we will support each other in the observance of the Values and Aspirations of this Charter, both in the Commonwealth and throughout the world

NOW SOLEMNLY RESOLVE by the decision of the Heads of Government of the Commonwealth of Nations made on our behalf and in our own name, to uphold, preserve and defend the Values and Aspirations of the Commonwealth as declared in this Charter.

VALUES OF THE COMMONWEALTH

We believe in international peace and security, recognising that the scourge of war, genocide and conflict has brought untold loss and sorrow to humanity [UN Charter, Preamble 1] which the Commonwealth helps seeks to avoid and repair. We pledge our support
for the United Nations and other international institutions in the search for peace, disarmament, development and the promotion of international consensus on major global political, economic and social issues [Harare, par.9(n)].

We believe in economic growth and development throughout the Commonwealth, recognising their special importance for the transformation of our nations, the elimination of poverty, the removal of disparities and unequal living standards, and the strengthening
of all of these changes in every land [TT, par.5(a) and (h)];

We believe in an effective multi-lateral system for the maintenance of our global relationships, based on inclusiveness, equity and international law and in the strengthening of the United Nations as the surest foundation for achieving securing global peace,
equity and justice in the challenges that face the world;

We believe in democracy as the central principle for governance of our own nations and the safest means of resolving disagreements at home and in the world:

We re-affirm our belief in the inalienable right of Commonwealth citizens to participate, by means of free and democratic political processes, in shaping the societies in which they live;

We believe that governments, political parties and civil society have vital responsibilities for upholding and promoting a democratic culture and practices in all nations of the Commonwealth;

We believe in the accountability to the people of all those who hold public office, whether elected or appointed; and

We recognise that parliaments and local government and other forms of national, regional and local governance are essential elements in the exercise of true democracy throughout the Commonwealth [TT, par.5(b)]; and

We recognise that electoral integrity is essential to entrenching democratic processes and accountability [TT, par.11].

We believe in universal human rights and that they are applicable to all persons throughout the Commonwealth in accordance with the principles of international law:

We re-affirm our commitment to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 and to human rights covenants and instruments that declare the universal rights of all;

We believe that equality and respect for the protection and promotion of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights for all, without discrimination on any grounds, are foundations for the creation and maintenance of a peaceful, just and stable
society; and

We believe that all these rights are universal, indivisible, inter-dependent and inter-related and that they may not be implemented or denied selectively [TT, par.5(c)].

We believe in gender equality, re-affirming that such equality and empowerment are:

A requirement of the universal principles of human rights [Harare, par.9(b)];

Essential for human development; and

A pre-condition, through the advancement of women's rights, for effective and sustainable development throughout the Commonwealth [TT, par.5(i)].

We believe in tolerance, respect and understanding among all peoples in the diverse nations of the Commonwealth:

We recognise that such values strengthen both democracy and development;

We realise that respect for the dignity of all human beings is essential to the promotion of peace and prosperity; and

We acknowledge that unjustifiable discrimination against individuals or groups impedes the attainment of the values of the Commonwealth and demands proper correction and redress [Harare, par.4(b); TT, par.5(d)].

We believe that good governance throughout the Commonwealth is essential to the attainment of these values in all member nations:

We commit ourselves to ensuring integrity, transparency and accountability in the governance in our own countries and in the organs of the Commonwealth itself; and

We pledge ourselves to strive, by effective and co- operative means, to root out systemic and systematic corruption of those who hold power over others, both at national and international levels [TT, par.5(k)];

We recognise the importance of maintaining the integrity of the distinctive functions of the Legislature, the Executive and Judiciary [TT, par.5 (e)];

We believe in the rule of law as an essential protection for the people and an assurance of limited and accountable government:

We recognise that, in each nation of the Commonwealth, the Legislature, the Executive and the Judiciary have distinctive roles to fulfil as guarantors of the rule of law;

We assert that access to justice and to an independent judiciary is among the universal rights belonging to all peoples and that it is fundamental to the maintenance of the rule of law;

We acknowledge that the rule of law implies that the content of law should conform to universal human rights and to the principles of lawfulness, justice and reasonableness; and

We believe in the enhancement of the rule of law by effective, transparent, ethical and accountable governance throughout the Commonwealth, by the appropriate sharing of legal materials and by undertaking and promoting systematic reform of the law [TT,
par.5(f)].

We believe in human diversity and human dignity and we oppose all forms of discrimination whether it be based in race, ethnicity, creed or gender or other like cause [Coolum report, par.3]. We believe in freedom of thought, conscience and religion and oppose
discrimination upon any such ground [UDHR, art. 18]

We believe in the important role functions that civil society and the media of communications plays in our communities and nations:

In affording opportunities to the people of the Commonwealth to express their civic freedoms and to fulfil themselves as citizens and as human beings;

In enhancing the pursuit of freedom and happiness in life in all Commonwealth countries [TT, par.5(I)];

In promoting and supporting these Commonwealth values; and 12.4 In advancing the attainment of these Commonwealth aspirations.

We believe in the strengthening of civil society and of the organisations that, individually and collectively, can give expression to these Commonwealth values and aspirations, and help harness our shared historical, professional, cultural and linguistic
heritage [Harare, par.11] in an abiding spirit of co-operation and mutual support [Harare, par.12].

We believe in access to shelter, health care, education [Harare, par.9(d)] and work for all peoples of the Commonwealth; and in the fulfilment of the universal principles of human rights as essential means to alleviate poverty; to promote sustainable development
[Millbrook, par.6]; and to uphold justice in every land [Harare, par.9(e); TT, par.5(j)].

We believe in mutual support in times of natural calamity or where peace building is needed [Youth Declaration TT, pmbl 2]. We commit ourselves to the proper protection and defence of the natural environment and to equity, sustainability and diversity in
our planet and for all living creatures that make it up. [TT 12]. [Declaration Port of Spain: Partnering for a More Equitable and Sustainable Future: Release 29 Nov 2009].

COMMONWEALTH ASPIRATIONS

We aspire to a Commonwealth that is in harmony with the future: an association that draws on its history; utilises its strengths; pursues the common interests of its members; and seizes the opportunity to help to them and others to shape a better world
[Coolum, par.8).

We aspire to a Commonwealth that is foremost in the elimination of poverty, unjust discrimination, powerlessness and despair. We pledge ourselves, through the Commonwealth, to contribute to the enrichment of life for peoples everywhere and to provide a
powerful influence for peace, development, good governance and human rights throughout the world [Singapore, par.14].

We aspire to a Commonwealth that builds on its strengths but is unafraid to evolve and to adapt itself constantly prepared to adapt to changing times and fresh challenges [Coolum, par.8].

We aspire to good relations between our nations so that they are conducted in accordance with the values of the Commonwealth and consistent with the principles of consensus and common action, mutual respect, inclusiveness, transparency, accountability,
legitimacy and responsiveness that mark the Commonwealth out amongst international associations. [TT, par.6].

We aspire to an enlarged role for the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth [Millbrook, par.4] and the Commonwealth Secretariat in promoting and upholding the Commonwealth's values; in supporting adherence by our countries to such these values and principles;
in preventing and settling any conflicts that may arise; and in giving voice in the Commonwealth and in the world to these values and aspirations to which we pledge ourselves.

We aspire to give affording practical assistance and technical aid to build the capacity of the public and private institutions in Commonwealth countries that uphold Commonwealth values and to strengthen the institutions of member countries so as to ensure
the attainment of our values and the avoidance of all violations [Millbrook, par.2], CMAG [Millbrook par.3]

We aspire to an effective role for the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) as the special custodian of the Commonwealth's values. We call on CMAG to respond and deal promptly and effectively and promptly with all instances of serious or persistent
violations of Commonwealth values; to adopt measures designed to prevent such violations from occurring and to pronounce and act upon them, including in public as appropriate, so that the commitment and resolve of the Commonwealth to abide by its values will
not be put in doubt [TT, par.8].

We affirm that, in the face of serious or persistent violations of the values expressed in this Charter, silence on the part of the Commonwealth is not an option [EPG, 26 October 2010].

We recognise the particular vulnerabilities of small island and developing states [Millbrook, par.6(e)] as well as the urgent need for concerted action by the international community to address their special needs. We aspire to a Commonwealth that will
pursue innovative and practical support for small states and recognise its role as a special and effective voice at international forums for the small and vulnerable states of the world [Coolum, par.7; pars. 37 and 38].

We aspire to immediate progress consistent with Commonwealth values that will transform the Commonwealth in ways that seize the opportunities and respond effectively to the challenges of our time:

By enhancing the role that the youth of the Commonwealth will play in the governance, institutions and diverse voices of the Commonwealth, acknowledging that the future of the Commonwealth belongs to them;

By increasing the linkages of the people of the Commonwealth through new information technology so that the shared means of communication and our common use of the English language will enhance national, individual and group relationships, promote national
and international understanding and strengthen the ties of friendship; and 25.3 By promoting the advantages of the freest possible multi- lateral trade within the Commonwealth [Harare, par.9(f)], utilising the shared media of language, legal, educational,
sporting [Harare, par.9(h)] professional and other commonalities so that our unique global association will become a true commonwealth for all its peoples linking together economies rich and poor, large and small, developed and developing, to the benefit of
the economic progress of all; to strengthen economic capacity and resilience so as to support and advance Commonwealth values and aspirations and the wellbeing of all Commonwealth citizens.

We aspire to a Commonwealth that will be a strong and respected voice in the world, speaking out on major issues; committed to strengthening and enlarging the many networks that already exist; dedicated to raising the profile of the Commonwealth in the
world; and devoted to improving the lives of the peoples of the Commonwealth and thereby of humanity everywhere. 27. And we aspire to strengthen the Commonwealth as a free association of peoples who are represented in its councils and agencies by democratically
elected and appointed leaders, served by uncorrupted officials, based on these abiding values and aspirations and organised to give primacy to the people of the Commonwealth in whose name this Charter is expressed. DONE at-------------------, this------day
of----------20-- , in the name of the peoples of the Commonwealth of Nations, and in the presence of the Head of the Commonwealth.

The Seoul Communique builds on the objectives and measures set out in the 2010 Washington Communique to identify 11 areas of priority and importance in nuclear security and presents specific actions in each area.

Over recent years, there have been heightened concerns about the dangers posed by terrorists getting access to nuclear weapons and related materials or technology. The US hosted the 1st Nuclear Security Summit (NSS) in Washington on 12 – 13 April 2010. Forty-seven
countries, including India and three international organizations participated in the Summit.

The First NSS concluded with the adoption of a
Communique and a Work Plan. The Summit underlined the importance of responsible national action, and sustained and effective international cooperation towards this end, including adherence to key
international instruments and support for activities of the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in the field of Nuclear Security.

Our Prime Minister attended the 1st Nuclear Summit. He underlined that the primary responsibility
for ensuring nuclear security was at the national level and it must be accompanied by responsible behavior. The world community should join hands to eliminate the risk of sensitive material and technology falling into hands of terrorists and illicit traffickers.

The Nuclear Security Summit process involves inter-sessional meetings at the level of Sherpa and Sous Sherpa. Foreign Secretary is the Indian Sherpa. Since the first Summit, Sherpa and Sous Sherpa meetings have been held periodically to review and advance the
consideration of nuclear security issues. India hosted a NSS Sherpa meeting in New Delhi on 16-17 January 2012.

India and Nuclear Security

Since the inception of its nuclear programme, India has attached great importance to physical protection of nuclear facilities and materials. Over the years, a multi-layer security system has evolved alongside the complex security threats facing the country.
Consequently, an integrated system of physical system of protection for nuclear facilities and materials – during use, storage and transport has been established. Other steps taken by India include developing physical protection measures such as access control
(for personnel and nuclear materials); surveillance and detection; and, continuous technical review of physical protection systems.

India is a party to Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Materials (CPPNM) including its 2005 amendment as well as to International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism (ICSANT) and is a partner in the Global Initiative to
combat nuclear terrorism and participates in its regular activities. Since 2002, India has been piloting annually at the UN General Assembly a resolution on measures to prevent terrorists from acquiring weapons of mass destruction which is adopted by consensus.
At the national level, India adopted a Weapons of Mass Destruction and its delivery systems Act of 2005. India has also been active at the IAEA towards developing guidelines for physical protection of nuclear materials. At the first Nuclear Security Summit,
Prime Minister announced that India will establish a Global Centre on Nuclear Energy Partnership in cooperation with interested partner countries and IAEA. The Global Centre will have four schools on – Advanced Nuclear Energy Systems Studies, Nuclear Security
Studies, Radiological Safety Studies, and Studies on Applications of Radioisotopes and Radiation Technologies.

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MEA1999319198US Export Regulationswww.bis.doc.gov/policiesandregulations/ear/index.htm
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MEA19198199914th BRICS Summit1. The BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) idea was first conceived in 2001 by Goldman Sachs as part of an economic modeling exercise to forecast global economic trends over the next half century; the acronym BRIC was first used in 2001 by Goldman Sachs
in their Global Economics Paper No. 66, "The World Needs Better Economic BRICs".

Expansion of BRIC into BRICS

2. BRIC Foreign Ministers at their meeting in New York on 21st September 2010 agreed that South Africa may be invited to join BRIC. Accordingly, China, as the host of 3rd BRICS Summit, invited South African President to attend the Summit in Sanya on 14 April
2011 with the concurrence of other BRIC Leaders.

3. The Leaders reviewed the state of global economic and financial crisis and had consultations on the issues on G-8 and G-20 Agenda. The Leaders stressed the need to intensify cooperation in the BRIC format on economic matters, to seek speedy implementation
of G-20 decisions of interest to developing countries, and reform of global governance and the international financial system. The Summit adopted Joint Statement of BRIC Leaders and a Joint Statement on Global Food Security.

6. The theme of the Summit was "Broad Vision and Shared Prosperity". The Sanya Summit was the first after inclusion of South Africa in BRICS. The Summit
took place at a time when all five BRICS countries were together in the UN Security Council.

Consultation meeting of BRICS Leaders on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit in Cannes, France, 3 November 2011

7. BRICS Leaders held a consultation meeting on 3rd November 2011 in Cannes, France, before the G-20 Summit. The Leaders exchanged views on BRICS cooperation and the Cannes G20 Summit.

Other BRICS Meetings

Foreign Ministers
8. Foreign Ministers of BRICS have been meeting regularly in New York on the sidelines of UNGA since their first meeting in September 2006. The last meeting was hosted by India in New York on 23 September 2011.

9. A standalone meeting of BRIC Foreign Ministers was held in Yekaterinburg, Russia on 16 May 2009. A Joint Communiqué was issued at the Meeting.

Finance/Economic Ministers

10. The first meeting of BRICS Economic/Finance Ministers was held in November 2008 in Sao Paolo, Brazil for consultations in the wake of the global economic and financial crisis. BRICS Economic/Finance Ministers have been meeting regularly on the sidelines
of G20 meetings and IMF/WB annual meetings; the last meeting was hosted by India on 22 September 2011 on the sidelines of G20 meetings and IMF/WB annual meetings in Washington DC.

High Representatives on Security (National Security Advisers)

11. Russia hosted a formal meeting of BRIC National Security Advisers in end May 2009 to discuss the security implications of the global financial and economic crisis. The second meeting of BRIC NSAs was held on 15 April 2010. The 3rd meeting of National
Security Advisors was held in Sochi, Russia in October 2010.

Agriculture Ministers

12. Two meetings of BRICS Agriculture Ministers have taken place; the first in Moscow on 26 March 2010 and the second in Chengdu, China on 28 October – 1 November 2011. A Joint Declaration was issued at the meeting in China and Action Plan for 2012-2016
for Agricultural Cooperation among BRICS countries outlining priority areas was adopted. A Working Group on Agriculture has also been set up to deepen cooperation in Agriculture.

Trade Ministers

13. BRICS Trade Ministers met in Sanya, China on 13 April 2011 on the sidelines of the 3rd Summit as well as in Rio in April 2010 in the run-up to the 2nd BRIC Summit. Trade Ministers also met on the sidelines of the 8th WTO Ministerial Conference in Geneva
in December 2011. Next standalone meeting of Trade Ministers is planned for 28 March 2012 in New Delhi before the 4th Summit.

BRICS Health Ministers

14. A meeting of BRICS Health Ministers was held in July 2011 in Beijing to explore areas of cooperation in the health sector.

Science & Technology Senior Officials

15. The first meeting of Science & Technology Senior Officials was held on 14-16 September 2011 in Dalian, China.

BRICS Competition Conferences

16. The first meeting of BRIC Competition Authorities was held in Kazan, Russia on 1 September 2009. The 2nd meeting was hosted by China in Beijing on 20-22 September 2011. India will host the next meeting in 2013.

Business Forum

17. Two BRICS Business Forum meetings have taken place; the last in Sanya on the sidelines of the 3rd Summit in April 2011. An MoU identifying Focal Points in BRICS countries for coordinating business activities was signed. The next meeting of Business Forum
will be held in New Delhi on 27 March 2012 in the run-up to the next Summit.

BRICS Development Banks

18. The first meeting of Development Banks was hosted by Brazil in April 2010. An MoU laying the foundation of BRICS Inter-Bank Cooperation Mechanism was signed at the Meeting. Following up on the MoU, BRICS Development Banks signed a Framework Agreement
on' Financial Cooperation within the BRICS Inter-bank Cooperation Mechanism at the Sanya Summit.

Statistical Organizations

19. BRICS National Statistical authorities have also had three meetings. The last meeting was held in Beijing in March 2011. BRICS National Statistical Authorities have also brought out a BRICS Statistical Publication; it was first issued at the 2nd Summit
in Brasilia in April 2010 and its revised edition after South Africa’s joining of BRICS, was issued at the 3rd Summit in Sanya. The next Technical Meeting will be hosted by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation in New Delhi on 6-8 February
2012 to revise the Publication so that the same could be released at the Delhi BRICS Summit.

BRICS Joint Study

20. Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Government of India is coordinating a Joint BRICS Study on the state of world economy during the next two years and the role of BRICS countries. Efforts are being made to release the Study at the next
Summit on 29 March 2012 in New Delhi.

Academic Forum/Track-II

21. India hosted the first BRIC Academic Forum in May 2009 as preparatory event to feed into the first BRICS Summit in Yekaterinburg, Russia in June 2009. Brazil hosted the second Academic Forum before the second Summit on 14-15 April, 2010. China hosted
the third meeting in Beijing in March 2011. The next meeting of Academic Forum will be held in New Delhi on 5-6 March 2012.

Other Areas of Engagement

22. Other areas of engagement include meeting of Mayors of BRICS cities and BRICS Friendship Cities meeting (the first meeting held in Sanya, China on 1-3 December 2011) etc.

Issues on BRICS Agenda

23. The agenda of BRICS meetings has considerably widened over the years to encompass topical global issues such as international terrorism, WMDs, climate change, food and energy security, MDGs, international economic and financial situation etc.

Next Steps

24. A Plan of Action was endorsed at the Sanya Summit to strengthen cooperation among BRICS countries in areas of security, finance, business links, agriculture, health, culture, sports, science and technology and green economy.

4th BRICS Summit

25. The 4th BRICS Summit will be hosted in New Delhi in March 2012. A number of pre-Summit events/meetings have been planned in the run-up to the Summit to enrich the Agenda at the Delhi BRICS Summit.

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MEA1999119992Kailash Mansarovar Yatra 2012 Kailash Manasarovar Yatra (KMY) is known for its religious value, cultural significance, physical beauty and thrilling
nature. It is undertaken by hundreds of people every year. Holding significance for the Hindus as the abode of Lord Shiva, it holds religious importance also for the Jains and the Buddhists.

Lake Manasarovar lies at 4556 ft above sea level and is the highest fresh water lake in the World. As per Hindu theology,
drinking water from the lake cleanses all the sins of the past hundred lives. Whether it is the pristine beauty of the region or its religious significance or the thrilling nature of the trek through snow covered hilly terrains, rough weather and beautiful
expanses, KMY is much sought-after extraordinary experience.

The Yatra is organized by the Ministry of External Affairs every year. In 2012, the Yatra is planned to be arranged
from 29 May to 26 September in 16 batches. The duration of the Yatra proper for each batch will be 27 days. The Yatra is open to eligible Indian citizens, aged at least 18 years and below 70 years as on 1.1.2012 who wish to proceed to Kailash-Manasarovar for
religious purposes. Last date for applying is 5.3.2012.

The Yatra involves trekking at high altitudes of up to 19,500 feet, under inhospitable conditions, including extreme
cold and rugged terrain. Given the extremely arduous nature of the Yatra, only those who are physically fit and healthy should apply to undertake the Yatra, purely at their own volition, cost, risk and consequences.

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MEA1999219194Travel Advisory for Trip to Kailash MansarovarA large number of Indian nationals are showing interest in visiting Holy Kailash Manasarovar through tours organized by private Indian tour operators. Most of the tourists are unaware of the actual conditions in Kailash-Manasarovar area and need to prepare
for the difficulties that they may have to face. The Holy Kailash Manasarovar is situated in a remote area in Tibet Autonomous Region of People's Republic of China, where availability of medical facilities, accommodation, food items, means of communication
and transport are minimal. It is situated at an average altitude of 13000 feet above the sea level. Tourists may get affected by High Altitude Sickness and other medical problems, which can be fatal in the absence of adequate medical facilities. There have
also been instances of pilgrims being stranded due to bad weather.

Government of India wishes to inform all its citizens intending to visit Kailash Manasarovar through private tour operators that they should bear in mind the following while preparing for the Yatra :

The holy sites of Kailash and Manasarovar are situated at very high altitude. Tourists have to traverse passes which are up to 19000 feet above sea level. The very high altitude coupled with the rarified atmosphere and inhospitable climate and terrain,
makes the trip to Kailash - Manasarovar one of the most difficult in the Himalayas. People who are aged, who have previous medical histories of blood pressure, diabetes, chest pain, heart condition or breathing difficulties or who are not physically fit for
any reason are strongly advised not to go on this trip.

Acclimatization is vital physiological need of the human body and must be ensured while visiting high altitude areas like Kailash Manasarovar. Acclimatization is a three step procedure - Tourists should spend 3 nights at 9000 feet, 2 nights each at 12000
and 15000 feet. Tourists may ensure that the tours schedule drawn up by their private tour operators have sufficient time for acclimatization.

Tourists must make themselves fully aware of the symptoms of High Altitude diseases that may affect them during the trip to Kailash Manasarovar and the ways to overcome them. Acute Mountain Sickness is characterized by headache plus one or more of the following
symptoms:

Loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting

Fatigue, weakness

Dizziness, light-headedness

Difficulty in sleeping

If headache plus one of the above symptoms develop then continued ascent is a major risk factor for developing more serious conditions and may be life-threatening. Therefore, tourists should not ascend further up. If symptoms are not settling or worsening,
descent to an altitude below the one where symptoms started is always effective. A descent of 500 to 1000 meters is usually sufficient.

Due to poor infrastructure in that remote region, Yatris may note that accommodation may be primitive. Tourists may also be compelled to stay at remote places due to inclement weather conditions or disruptions in road and air traffic. Tourists wishing to
go on this trip must check with their private tour operators whether adequate alternative arrangements for accommodation, food, water and medicine to deal with such emergencies are in place.

It is suggested that tourists should consult their physician or doctor on what they should carry with them on this trip. Tourists are strongly advised to ensure that medicines carried by them are duly approved by a qualified physician or doctor. Use of
any medicines without proper medical advice can be harmful or even fatal in high altitude conditions.

Tourists should avoid alcohol, sedatives and narcotic analgesics during the trip to Kailash Manasarovar as these drugs depress breathing.

In a medical emergency, tourists may need to be airlifted to India or to a place in Nepal where hospital facility is available. Tourists should check with their private tour operator whether such an arrangement is in place.

Tourists are advised to get themselves insured properly for medical and life insurance since there is considerable element of risk to life.

Note : The aforesaid Advisory is issued in the interest of the tourists who undertake the trip to Kailash Manasarovar. However, the compliance/non-compliance of the Advisory will not in any way entitle the tourists or their legal heirs to bring an
action against the Ministry of External Affairs for the loss of life or injury to person/property sustained by them while undertaking the trip to Kailash Manasarovar.

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MEA1919419079Kailash Mansarovar Yatra-2012 (Newspaper Ad in Hindi)
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MEA1907919066Frequently Asked Questions for KMY29/03/2012 10:55:59MEA Adminhttps://mea.gov.in/in-focus-article.htm?19066/Frequently+Asked+Questions+for+KMY
MEA1906619067Estimated Expenditure to be incurred by an Individual Yatri/Liaison Officer29/03/2012 11:04:10MEA Adminhttps://mea.gov.in/in-focus-article.htm?19067/Estimated+Expenditure+to+be+incurred+by+an+Individual+YatriLiaison+Officer
MEA1906719174Temporary deputation of Doctors/Para-medical staff to Saudi Arabia for Haj 201231/03/2012 18:37:24MEA Adminhttps://mea.gov.in/in-focus-article.htm?19174/Temporary+deputation+of+DoctorsParamedical+staff+to+Saudi+Arabia+for+Haj+2012
MEA1917419175Temporary deputation of Administrative Staff to Saudi Arabia for Haj 201231/03/2012 18:44:11MEA Adminhttps://mea.gov.in/in-focus-article.htm?19175/Temporary+deputation+of+Administrative+Staff+to+Saudi+Arabia+for+Haj+2012
MEA1917519994SAARC Youth Award 2011SAARC invites applications from the youth of the region to participate in the "SAARC Youth Award - 2011". The aim of the Scheme is to provide suitable recognition to extra-ordinary young talents and encourage the overall development of the youth in the region.

Objectives:

Give recognition to the outstanding work done by young persons;

Provide youth the incentive to achieve excellence in the various fields;

Improve educational and technical skills of youth and to encourage them in creative activities; and

Encourage in the youth the development of personality through positive social attitudes and values.

Theme of the Award:
The theme of the Award - 2011 has been decided as "Youth Leadership in the fight against social ills".

About the theme:
A social ill makes it difficult for people to achieve their full potential. Throughout history, societies have been fighting the ill effects of social issues. The severity of the issue is evident from the fact that the problems present in society are as old
as the fight against them.

Poverty; discrimination; violence against women and children; addiction; family disintegration; street violence and crimes are examples of social problems. Social ills branch out into different categories and take root in different forms. Not only do social
ills affect many people directly, but they also impact the whole society indirectly.

Today’s cause against social ills has an advantage in the sense that most societies have acknowledged that they have social problems and are open to solutions. Therefore, it is imperative to continue the work done in this arena and to come up with new ideas
to help fight against social ills. As young people are the rising dynamic force in today’s society, it is crucial that they take an active role in this cause.

As such, the SAARC Youth Award 2011 will be given to an outstanding youth of South Asia who has made significant contributions and shown leadership in the fight against social ills.

Eligibility:
The Award is open to nationals of SAARC Member States who are within the age group of 20-35 years at the time of nomination.

Description of Award:

A citation in English;

A SAARC Gold Medal;

A cash prize of US$ 3000.00 (Three thousand US Dollars)

Per diem and return air ticket for travel to the venue of the presentation of the award.

Last date:
The last date for receipt of applications is 5 March 2012. Applicants are requested to submit all required documents in time to the respective Foreign/External Affairs Ministries.

The South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) was created in 1985 as an expression of the region's collective decision to evolve a regional cooperative framework. Presently, there are eight member countries in SAARC namely Afghanistan, Bangladesh,
Bhutan, India, Nepal, Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. It also has nine Observers, namely China, EU, Iran, Republic of Korea, Australia, Japan, Mauritius, Myanmar and USA.

India was the Chair of SAARC in 2007 and the year was the most productive year that SAARC had ever known. Each of Hon'ble Prime Minister's announcements at the 14th Summit in Delhi has been implemented. The operationalization of the SAARC Food Bank; the
establishment of the SAARC Development Fund; setting up of the South Asian University; the SAARC Cultural Festival; the launching of negotiations to bring services into SAFTA; signing of the Convention of Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters and our unilateral
grant of zero duty access to SAARC LDCs from January 1, 2008 are significant steps to regional integration. SAARC's geographic contours also changed with the formal induction of Afghanistan in to SAARC as the eighth member.

The momentum generated by 14th Summit held in New Delhi coupled with India's commitment to discharge its responsibilities in an asymmetric and non-reciprocal manner, was carried over to the 15th SAARC Summit, held in Colombo (2-3 August 2008) and the 16th
SAARC Summit held for the first time in Thimphu (28-29 April 2010).

The most visible manifestation of this new dynamism in SAARC has been the early operationalization of the SAARC Development Fund (SDF) and the inauguration of its permanent premises in Bhutan during the Sixteenth SAARC Summit in April 2010. India has transferred
its full commitment of US $ 189.9 ($ 89.9 million as assessed contribution and $ 100 million as grant for the social window) to the SDF. Other Member States are also expected to remit their contributions to the SDF shortly. Two regional projects - on women's
empowerment and maternal and child health care - under SDF are currently being implemented with technical assistance from India.

Cooperation in the field of higher education is set to touch a new horizon with the establishment of the South Asian University (SAU) at New Delhi in the near future. India will bear a major part of the cost of establishing the University, including 100%
of the capital cost. The University is expected to be fully established by 2015. The Sixteenth SAARC Summit (Thimphu, April 2010) appreciated the progress made towards establishing the University and the announcement of the CEO of the SAU Project Office to
initialize the first academic session of the University with effect from August 2010.

In a bid to preserve the rich textile and handicraft traditions of the South Asian region, Prime Minister, at the Thirteenth SAARC Summit (Dhaka, November 2005), proposed the establishment of a SAARC Museum of Textiles and Handicrafts in New Delhi. The
Museum would be an Intergovernmental Body on the lines of the other SAARC Regional Centres and will be housed in Delhi Haat, Pitampura. Premises for the Museum have been acquired in January 2010.

Taking forward the theme of regional connectivity, the Second Meeting of SAARC Transport Ministers held in Colombo (24-25 July 2009) directed that a Special Meeting of the Expert Group be convened to negotiate two draft Regional Agreements on Motor Vehicles
and Railways in a time bound manner. The Sixteenth SAARC Summit in Thimphu, reiterating the centrality of connectivity to further deepen and consolidate regional integration, endorsed the recommendation to declare 2010-20 as the "Decade of Intra-regional Connectivity
in SAARC" and agreed on the need to expedite negotiations with a view to finalizing the two agreements on Motor Vehicles and Railways.

Commendable progress has taken place in the full implementation of South Asian Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA). Intra-SAARC trade touched US $ 529 million in 2009, a considerable jump from the previous two years. Member States have appreciated India's gesture
to give duty free access to LDCs from January 1, 2008, one year ahead of target date and unilateral reduction of its Sensitive List with respect to LDCs from 744 to 480.

The growing synergies in SAARC found expression in a cooperative position on Climate Change presented on behalf of Member States of SAARC to the UNFCCC Secretariat before the Copenhagen Summit in 2009.

Cabinet Secretaries from SAARC Member States met in New Delhi on 13-14 November 2009. They exchanged information and best practices on administrative reform initiatives with the aim of accelerating the process of eradication of poverty in the region. Member
States noted with appreciation the presentation by India of two Concept Papers on Performance Management and Evaluation and Sharing of Best Practices in Information Technology and expressed the desire for enhanced cooperation. At the request of SAARC Cabinet
Secretaries, Workshops on e-Governance (16-17 February 2010) and Government Performance Management (30-31 April 2010) for SAARC countries were held in New Delhi.

People-to-people activities in the SAARC region have also witnessed an increase in recent years. In 2009, India hosted the Third SAARC Bands Festival and the Second SAARC Festival of Literature in New Delhi, and the Second SAARC Folklore Festival in Chandigarh.

India has also funded regional development projects in the areas of telemedicine, tele-education, solar rural electrification, rainwater harvesting, seed testing laboratories and shuttle breeding of pulses using a hub-and-spokes approach. The projects,
in various stages of implementation, have been greatly appreciated by the recipient SAARC countries.

SAARC has witnessed increasing cooperation on security matters especially in the last two years. The Thirty-First Session of the SAARC Council of Ministers (Colombo, February 2009) adopted the 'SAARC Ministerial Declaration on Cooperation in Combating Terrorism'
to forge deeper collaboration to address the growing menace of terrorism in the region. The SAARC Terrorist Offences Monitoring Desk (STOMD) and SAARC Drug Offences Monitoring Desk (SDOMD) based in Sri Lanka enable exchange of information on terrorist and
drug related cases. The infrastructure for the desks is being strengthened with financial assistance from the Government of India. Similarly, an internet based network among police authorities of Member States is being set up by India for exchange of open/unclassified
information. The Declaration adopted at the Sixteenth SAARC Summit in Thimphu also included a strong statement on the threat of terrorism.

At the Third SAARC Interior/Home Ministers Meeting that took place in Islamabad on June 26, 2010 a SAARC Ministerial Statement on Cooperation against Terrorism was adopted. The Islamabad Statement, inter alia underlined the commitment of Member States to
implement measures against the organization, instigation, financing and facilitation of terrorist activity; underscored the commitment to apprehend and prosecute or extradite persons connected with acts of terrorism; reiterated the taking of appropriate measures
to ensure that respective territories were not used for terrorist installations or training camps or for the preparation or organization of terrorist acts intended to be committed against other States or their citizens; and reiterated contribution to efforts
for the early adoption of the draft UN Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism.

In another significant achievement, the Standard Operating Protocol on Trafficking of Women & Children was finalized at the Third Meeting of the Regional Task Force to Implement the SAARC Conventions relating to Trafficking in Women & Children and Promotion
of Child Welfare in South Asia held in Shimla on 28-29 May, 2009.

Sixteenth SAARC Summit, Thimphu (28 & 29 April, 2010)

The Sixteenth SAARC Summit was a historic event as it marked the twenty fifth anniversary of the organisation. This was also the first gathering of SAARC Leaders in Bhutan. The Summit adopted the Thimphu Silver Jubilee Declaration entitled, "Towards a Green
and Happy South Asia", and a separate Statement on Climate Change.

In the Thimphu Declaration, SAARC Heads of State/Government decided to develop a 'Vision Statement' and set up a 'South Asia Forum', which would provide inputs for charting out its future course of the organisation and suggest, if necessary, improvements
required in the existing mechanisms. The Summit Declaration strongly condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and expressed deep concern over the threat which terrorism continued to pose to peace, security and economic stability of the South
Asian region. It directed Commerce Ministers to continue coordinating SAARC positions on WTO Issues and the Doha Development Agenda during the Seventh WTO Ministerial Conference. The leaders emphasized deepening regional efforts on poverty alleviation and
called for the expeditious mainstreaming of the SAARC Development Goals (SDGs) in the national processes and completion of the Mid-term Review of the SDGs as scheduled. They further noted the useful finding and recommendations made by successive regional studies
through the Regional Poverty Profiles and directed the relevant SAARC mechanisms to act on them.

The Thimphu Statement on Climate Change outlined regional actions on the issue of climate change. These included, inter alia, seeking Observer Status for SAARC at the UNFCCC and evolving a common position for the 16th Conference of Parties to be held in
Cancun, Mexico; launching a number of studies to better understand changes brought about by global warming in the region; and establishing an Inter-governmental Expert Group on Climate Change to develop a clear policy direction and guidance for regional cooperation
as envisaged in the SAARC Plan of Action on Climate Change; and commissioning SAARC Inter-governmental Mountain, Marine and Monsoon Initiatives.

Two instruments, the SAARC Convention on Cooperation in Environment and Agreement on Trade in Services, were signed at the Summit. The Summit inter alia took decisions on regional cooperation relating to security, trade, climate change, energy and food
security, poverty alleviation and disaster management.
17th SAARC Summit

The XVII SAARC Summit takes place in Addu City, in the southern atolls of the Maldives, situated in the Southern Hemisphere. This is the third time that Maldives hosts a SAARC Summit; it did so previously in 1997 (IX Summit) and 1990 (V Summit).

The theme for the Summit is "Building Bridges". This covers both the direct implication of connectivity between the SAARC Member States, and also the conceptual connotations of connecting peoples of the SAARC region
in all facets, including social, economic, cultural, developmental aspects. This harmonizes with the observance of the current decade as the "SAARC Decade of Intra-Regional Connectivity".

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, (SAARC) was created in 1985 in Dhaka with 7 members, as an expression of the region's collective decision to evolve a regional cooperative framework. With Afghanistan who joining the association in 2007,
there are now eight member countries in SAARC namely Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

The renewed and reinvigorated engagement of India with SAARC over the past few years has been one of the main factors leading to the gradual and irreversible transition of the organization from a declaratory phase to one of implementation. This phenomenon
has been further complemented by India's commitment to discharge its responsibilities in an asymmetric and non-reciprocal manner.

SAARC has 9 Observers, namely Australia, China, the European Union, Iran, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mauritius, Myanmar and the USA.November 2011

]]>03/03/2012 18:33:23MEA Adminhttps://mea.gov.in/in-focus-article.htm?18785/Brief+on+SAARC
MEA1878518979Steps taken by the Election Commission and the Government of India in the context of forthcoming elections in J&amp;K

Old, hand-written and photocopied electoral lists of the past have been updated this time and computerised in Urdu. This was done based on a house-to-house survey in urban areas, and examination of land and other records in rural areas.

These updated lists are available for any person to apply for corrections. They have been made available to every party, to Registration Officers and to anyone else who wants it.

For the first time anywhere in the country, voters slips (identifying serial number in the electoral list and place of voting) are being delivered by the Election Commission itself to the doorsteps of the voters. This is being done throughout the State.
It has also been indicated that if any person of eligible age does not receive this slip, he is entitled to approach the Commission for rectification/verification.

Observers from other States in India, which is the normal practice during elections in any part of the country, have been identified. In contrast to elections elsewhere, this time they have already made visits well in advance to assess the preparations
and make recommendations for any modification. The Chief Election Commissioners have themselves extensively toured the State.

At least one person in each district of each specified party has been provided security, so that political activity can be carried out, despite any fear or threat of terrorist activity.

Electronic voting machines are going to be used for the first time and would cover 100% of the voting. This would minimise any errors in calculation.

At each polling booth, out of 4 or 5 Polling Officers present, two would be from outside the State. This would be an important confidence building measure and would encourage non-partisan behaviour.

Polling booths are being set-up in Delhi, Jammu and Udhampur to enable migrants to vote.

Electoral photo identity cards are being issued to each voter, free of cost. There has been a large turn out, despite ill-informed reports, of people to get these identity cards. If some people are still unable to get them, other forms of identification
would also be accepted.

As against 6,000 polling booths in the previous election, another 1,000 have been added this time, to make it easier for the voters.

Strict instructions have been issued that no transportation assistance should be provided to the voters. They should go to the booths of their own free will, and through their own arrangements.

Visits of the media have been encouraged, both as a confidence building measure, to get an accurate feedback on arrangements, and also to disseminate information on the process and preparations.

Adequate security arrangements have been made for the voters, including through provision of additional central paramilitary forces.

>This is in continuation of this Ministry's Office Memorandum of even number dated 22nd February 2011 & 22nd March 2011 on the above – mentioned subject. The last date for the receipt of applications in the Ministry of External Applications has been extended
to 30th April 2011.

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MEA9819178Addendum to Temporary deputation of Administrative Staff to Saudi Arabia for Haj 201102/04/2012 10:14:40MEA Adminhttps://mea.gov.in/in-focus-article.htm?19178/Addendum+to+Temporary+deputation+of+Administrative+Staff+to+Saudi+Arabia+for+Haj+2011
MEA19178107MEA Improving Facilities for Kailash Mansarovar YatraThe Ministry of External Affairs organizes the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra every year. This year the Yatra is being organized during 29th May to 26th September. The Yatra attracts interest and participation from all over the country. People from all walks of
life participate in the Yatra which takes them to holy sites of Mount Kailash and Mansarovar lake in Tibet through the traditional route followed by saints and pilgrims since ancient times. Ministry along with other coordinating agencies such as Kumaon Mandal
Vikas Nigam Limited (KMVN) has over the years painstakingly worked towards improving facilities provided to the pilgrims.

From this year a change in the route of the Yatra has been undertaken through Narayan Ashram which shall make the Yatra less arduous and more safe for the Yatris. Discussions with KMVN have shown the need for improving the transportation capabilities of KMVM
and helping with renovation and up-gradation of the accommodation facilities in the new route of the Yatra. For the above purposes, the External Affairs Minister Shri S.M. Krishna, has approved and kindly consented to release of Rs.25 lakhs from MEA's budget.
This financial support will be used by KMVN to purchase 2 air-conditioned coaches for transporting Yatris from Delhi to Tawaghat and back as well as for improving accommodation facilities for Yatris on the new route at Sirkha and Pangu. Ministry of External
Affairs takes this opportunity to assure Yatris of a safe, secure and comfortable Yatra.

The Kailash Manasarovar Yatra is being organised by the Ministry of External Affairs from end of May/early June to September 2011. The Yatra is open to all
Indian citizens who have attained the age of 18 years but have not completed 70 years of age as on 01.01.2011 and who wish to proceed to Kailash-Manasarovar for religious purposes.

The duration of the Yatra will be 27 days. In addition, Yatris will need to spend 3 days in New Delhi to obtain visas, undergo a comprehensive medical examination and complete financial formalities.

Applicants should ensure that they possess an
ORDINARY INDIAN PASSPORT valid for more than six months as on September 1, 2011.

]]>16/08/2011 16:54:31MEA Adminhttps://mea.gov.in/in-focus-article.htm?108/Advertisement+for+participation+in+Kailash+Mansarovar+Yatra2011
MEA10819181Extension of last date of receipt of applications for appointment of Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Haj Committee of India, Mumbai from 15.1.2011 to 28.2.201102/04/2012 10:33:35MEA Adminhttps://mea.gov.in/in-focus-article.htm?19181/Extension+of+last+date+of+receipt+of+applications+for+appointment+of+Deputy+Chief+Executive+Officer+Haj+Committee+of+India+Mumbai+from+1512011+to+2822011
MEA19181109Travel Advisory for Trip to Kailash Mansarovar Yatra-2011A large number of Indian nationals are showing interest in visiting Holy Kailash Manasarovar through tours organized by private Indian tour operators. Most of the tourists are unaware of the actual conditions in Kailash-Manasarovar area and need to prepare
for the difficulties that they may have to face. The Holy Kailash Manasarovar is situated in a remote area in Tibet Autonomous Region of People's Republic of China, where availability of medical facilities, accommodation, food items, means of communication
and transport are minimal.It is situated at an average altitude of 13000 feet above the sea level. Tourists may get affected by High Altitude Sickness and other medical problems, which can be fatal in the absence of adequate medical facilities. There have
also been instances of pilgrims being stranded due to bad weather.

Government of India wishes to inform all its citizens intending to visit Kailash Manasarovar through private tour operators that they should bear in mind the following while preparing for the Yatra :

i. The holy sites of Kailash and Manasarovar are situated at very high altitude. Tourists have to traverse passes which are up to 19000 feet above sea level. The very high altitude coupled with the rarified atmosphere and inhospitable climate and terrain,
makes the trip to Kailash - Manasarovar one of the most difficult in the Himalayas. People who are aged, who have previous medical histories of blood pressure, diabetes, chest pain, heart condition or breathing difficulties or who are not physically fit for
any reason are strongly advised not to go on this trip.

ii. Acclimatization is vital physiological need of the human body and must be ensured while visiting high altitude areas like Kailash Manasarovar. Acclimatization is a three step procedure - Tourists should spend 3 nights at 9000 feet, 2 nights each at 12000
and 15000 feet. Tourists may ensure that the tours schedule drawn up by their private tour operators have sufficient time for acclimatization.

iii. Tourists must make themselves fully aware of the symptoms of High Altitude diseases that may affect them during the trip to Kailash Manasarovar and the ways to overcome them. Acute Mountain Sickness is characterized by headache plus one or more of the
following symptoms:

If headache plus one of the above symptoms develop then continued ascent is a major risk factor for developing more serious conditions and may be life-threatening. Therefore, tourists should not ascend further up. If symptoms are not settling or worsening,
descent to an altitude below the one where symptoms started is always effective. A descent of 500 to 1000 meters is usually sufficient.

iv. Due to poor infrastructure in that remote region, Yatris may note that accommodation may be primitive. Tourists may also be compelled to stay at remote places due to inclement weather conditions or disruptions in road and air traffic. Tourists wishing
to go on this trip must check with their private tour operators whether adequate alternative arrangements for accommodation, food, water and medicine to deal with such emergencies are in place.

vi. It is suggested that tourists should consult their physician or doctor on what they should carry with them on this trip. Tourists are strongly advised to ensure that medicines carried by them are duly approved by a qualified physician or doctor. Use
of any medicines without proper medical advice can be harmful or even fatal in high altitude conditions.

vii. Tourists should avoid alcohol, sedatives and narcotic analgesics during the trip to Kailash Manasarovar as these drugs depress breathing.

viii In a medical emergency, tourists may need to be airlifted to India or to a place in Nepal where hospital facility is available. Tourists should check with their private tour operator whether such an arrangement is in place.

ix. Tourists are advised to get themselves insured properly for medical and life insurance

The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is a process of the Human Rights Council which involves a review of the human rights records of all 192 UN Member States once every four years. The reviews are conducted by the UPR Working Group which consists of the 47
members of the Council. For this process, one of the documents submitted is the national report prepared by the Government of the reviewed state. In this context, the draft Universal Periodic Report-II prepared by the Government of India through an inter-Ministerial
process is given below. We would appreciate if comments from the civil society on this draft are sent to the UNES Division of the Ministry of External Affairs. These may be either faxed to 011-23011922 or emailed to Ms Rohita Mishra, Under Secretary (UNES)
at dsune@mea.gov.in . Comments/views are requested by 27th January, 2012.

SECOND UNIVERSAL PERIODIC REVIEW OF INDIA - DRAFT

I. INTRODUCTION

An immensely diverse country with a disparate social fabric, India is home to 1.2 billion people (Census 2011). Even though more than 80% of the population is Hindu, the country has a very large Muslim population (13.4% i.e 138 million), and a great many
followers of other faiths, including Christians (2.3% ie. 24 million), Sikhs, Jains, Parsis and others. India has 18 major languages, but more than 1650 dialects are spoken across the country.

India is one of the largest democracies of the world and the most representative democracy. Twenty-eight States and seven Union Territories (UTs) constitute India into a federal polity. There are 604 Districts and 638,596 villages in India. In a unique
feature, there are over 3 million elected local representatives in the Panchayats, which are the units of local self-government at the village level, out of which 1 million elected local representatives are women. Elections at regular intervals reinforce the
democratic polity of the country.

The Constitution of India, which has been the fountainhead for ensuring the political, economic, social and cultural rights for its people, has ensured through its Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles of State Policy that India remains a multi-religious,
multi-cultural, multi-linguistic, multi-ethnic and secular democracy. Human rights in India are to be viewed in the backdrop of country’s large size and tremendous diversity, its development imperatives and also the fact that for over two decades it has faced
the scourge of terrorism which is aided and abetted from outside. For all the challenges, India’s approach towards protection and promotion of human rights has been characterised by a holistic, inclusive and multi-pronged effort.

II. METHODOLOGY

In the preparation of the India Report under the Universal Periodic Review, the General Guidelines for the preparation of information have been followed broadly. This includes the Guidelines adopted by the UNHRC (A/HRC/17/1.29) at its 17th Session in 2011.

All concerned Ministries and Departments of the Government of India have contributed in the preparation of the report along with other stakeholders. Meetings were held involving the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment,
the Ministry of Minority Affairs, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, the Ministry of Human Resource Development, the Ministry of
Labour and Employment, the Ministry of Law and Justice, the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, the Ministry of Rural Development, the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, and the Ministry of Women and Child Development
(MWCD).

Consultations were held with the stakeholders consisting of several non-governmental organisations and experts involved in human rights related activities. In addition, the Government also participated in the consultations held the National Human Rights
Commission in this regard. The draft UPR – II was also posted on the website for comments before finalisation.

All the information collected pursuant to the rigorous and long process of consultations among the Ministries, the national human rights institutions and the non-governmental organisations was then collated and put together. A national report has thus evolved,
which reflects the consultation process that was undertaken.

III. REGULATORY AND INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK

In recent years, India has taken several important initiatives that are particularly aimed at securing human rights and furthering human development. Some of the recent initiatives are as follows: In 2010, in a unique development and to ensure citizens
their right to live with dignity in a healthy environment, the National Green Tribunal Act was enacted providing for effective legal protection for environment, forests and other natural resources including enforcement of any legal right in this context. Further,
in the same year, the Government introduced in Parliament the Protection of Women against Sexual Harassment at Workplace Bill covering both organized and unorganized sectors. In 2009, the Right to Education Act was enacted, which introduced a new fundamental
right in the Constitution securing the right of children to free and compulsory education in a neighbourhood school. In 2008, a Constitution amendment bill was introduced in Parliament to reserve for women nearly one-third of seats in the Lok Sabha (Lower
House of Parliament) and the state legislative assemblies for a period of 15 years. The Rajya Sabha (Upper House of Parliament) passed this bill in 2010. It is currently in the Lok Sabha. In 2007, the National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights
(NCPCR) was established to ensure that all legislative and administrative measures are in consonance with the child rights perspective as enshrined in the Constitution of India and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. In 2006, the landmark National Rural
Employment Guarantee programme was launched to enhance the livelihood security for the poor. In 2005, the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act was enacted by the Indian Parliament. During the same year, the historic Right to Information Act (RTI)
was enacted and came into force.

The independent and impartial Indian judiciary has, over the years, delivered far-reaching pronouncements on the protection and promotion of human rights. Recent Supreme Court rulings offer some interesting insights into judicial activism in India. From
an institution entrusted with the task of applying the law in cases brought before it, the Supreme Court has recast itself into an institution that even facilitates making and enforcing of law. The Supreme Court has also recognized the justiciability of some
economic and social rights as an extension of the right to life. The Supreme Court of India and the High Courts’ over the last thirty years have played a very pivotal role as an activist Judiciary through its Public Interest Litigation for protection against
grave violation of human rights. The Judiciary has also ensured that even if India has not signed or ratified any particular international instrument / covenant / protocol, the highest Judiciary in India has taken cognizance of these through its various judgments.
The powers are derived from Article 141 and 142 of the Constitution of India. This kind of awareness and concern of the judiciary in India is unparalleled in the developing world.

The establishment of an autonomous National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in 1993 under the Protection of Human Rights Act reflects our continuing commitment for effective implementation of human rights. Wide powers and functions have been given to the
NHRC. State Human Rights Commissions (SHRCs) have been set up in 20 states. During the year 2010-11 (up to 31.12.2010), 65,827 cases were registered for consideration and the Commission disposed of 62,551 cases, including cases brought forward from the previous
years. The Commission also transferred 5,673 cases to the State Human Rights Commissions for disposal. During the said period, the Commission recommended payment of interim relief in 269 cases amounting to Rs. 17,70,33,500.

Transparency in Governance

11. The Government has taken following recent far-reaching steps to ensure transparency in governance:

Right to Information Act

To increase transparency in the functioning of Government and accountability in public life, the Government brought forward the historic Right to Information Act, 2005. The Act has a wide reach, covering the Central and State Governments, Panchayati Raj
Institutions, local bodies, as well as recipients of Government grants. It has given citizens access to information with minimum exceptions.

Citizens’ Charters

The main objective of Citizens’ Charters is letting people know the mandate of the each Ministry/ Department/ Organisation, how one can get in touch with its officials, what to expect by way of services and how to seek a remedy.

E-Governance

E-Governance in India has steadily evolved from computerization of Government Departments to initiatives that encapsulate the finer points of Governance, such as citizen centricity, service orientation and transparency. The National e-Governance Plan (NeGP),
takes a holistic view of e-Governance initiatives across the country, integrating them into a collective vision. A massive countrywide infrastructure reaching down to the remotest of villages is evolving, and large-scale digitization of records is taking place.
The ultimate objective is to bring public services closer home to citizens and promote transparency.

IV. CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTSRight to Life and Liberty, Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles of State Policy

Article 21 of the Constitution provides that "No person shall be deprived of his life and liberty except according to procedure established by law.” Over the years, the Supreme Court has interpreted this to mean as right to life with dignity and brought
within its ambit health, environment, education etc. Consequently, there is a robust legal framework in place to safeguard right to life with dignity. It will be useful to recapitulate here that the Constitution offers all citizens, individually and collectively
basic freedoms which are justiciable and inviolable in the form of six broad categories of Fundamental Rights (Part III of the Constitution):

Right to equality including equality before law, prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth and equality of opportunity in matters of employment;

Right to freedom of speech and expression; assembly; association or union; movement; residence; and right to practice any profession or occupation;

Right against exploitation, prohibiting all forms of forced labour, child labour and traffic in human beings;

Right to freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion;

Right of any section of citizens to conserve their culture, language or script and right of minorities to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice; and

Right to constitutional remedies for enforcement of Fundamental Rights.

The Constitution also lays down certain Directive Principles of State Policy which, though not justiciable, are ‘fundamental in governance of the country’ and it is the duty of the State to apply these principles in making laws.

The Government of India remains committed to fulfil its obligation to secure to its citizens all civil and political rights. In the past concerns have been raised about the Armed Forces Special Powers Act. The constitutionality of this Act was upheld by
the Supreme Court of India in Naga People’s Movement of Human Rights v. Union of India [AIR 1998 SC 431].

This Act is considered necessary to deal with serious terrorist and insurgency/militancy situation arising in certain parts of the country. It provides necessary powers, legal support and protection to the Armed Forces for carrying out proactive operation
against the terrorists in a highly hostile environment. With the Act coming into force, the Armed Forces have been able to effectively counter terrorism in the state and establish stability. An analysis of the ground realities vis-à-vis the situation in 1990,
shows that the violence levels and the fighting ability of terrorists have reduced over the years. Nevertheless, they still possess sophisticated weapons and modern communication equipment and the terrorist infrastructure across the borders is still active.
The terrorists continue to intimidate to gain the support of the public, if it is not given willingly. The positive changes in the situation may lead to the misperception that normalcy is returning to the North Eastern States and that perhaps AFSPA can be
withdrawn. This is not borne out by ground realities. So long as deployment of armed forces is required to maintain peace and normalcy, AFSPA powers are required. However, the extension of declaration of "disturbed areas” to different parts is a subject matter
of periodical review in consultation with the State Government and security agencies.

The Army maintains zero tolerance for human rights violations. Human Rights Cell in the Army Headquarters was established in March 1993, even before the NHRC was. These cells have been established at various levels to monitor violations. The investigations
of violations are carried out swiftly and in a transparent manner and exemplary punishments are meted out to those involved. The troops are sensitized at regular intervals regarding the importance of upholding human rights and avoiding collateral damage. The
Chief of the Army Staff has issued the Ten Commandants to be followed by the Army personnel while dealing with the militants and the insurgents. The Supreme Court has also expressed its satisfaction with respect to these commandments in Naga People’s Movement
of Human Rights v. Union of India [AIR 1998 SC 431] case and observed that they were in essence a set of guiding principles for the prevention of human rights violation by the soldiers involved in counter insurgency operations.

Since January, 1994 till December, 2010, out of 1,417 complaints of human rights excesses received against the personnel of Army and Central Para Military Forces, 1,388 have been investigated and 1,308 of them found false. In 80 cases where the complaints
were found genuine, penalties have been imposed.

The Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Bill, 2010, was passed by the Lok Sabha on 12.08.2010 and by Rajya Sabha on 27.08.2010 respectively and became the Code of Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Act, 2010.

Death Penalty

In India, the death penalty is exercised in the ‘rarest of rare’ cases. The Supreme Court has restricted the use of death penalty only for cases where the crime committed is so heinous as to ‘shock the conscience of society’. Indian law provides for all
requisite procedural safeguards, including the right to a fair hearing by an independent Court, the presumption of innocence, the minimum guarantees for the defence, and the right to review by a higher Court. Juvenile offenders cannot be sentenced to death
under any circumstances and there are specific provisions for suspension of the death penalty in the case of pregnant women. Death sentences in India must also be confirmed by a superior court and an accused has the right to appeal to a High Court or the Supreme
Court. The President of India in all cases, and the Governors of States under their respective jurisdictions, have the power to grant pardons, reprieves, respites or remissions of punishment or to suspend, remit or commute the sentence of any person convicted
of any offence. For e.g 6 mercy petitions cases of 17 death convicts were decided between 01.04.2010 to 17.02.2011 and all six were commuted to life imprisonment

Torture

India has signed the Convention Against Torture. Presently a Bill has been introduced in the Parliament on this issue. The Bill was passed in the Lok Sabha in 2010. In Rajya Sabha it was referred to a Parliamentary Select Committee which in its Report has
made some recommendations to amend the Bill. The Report of the Select Committee is under examination by the Government. Though India has not yet ratified the Convention, Article 21 and other Articles of the Constitution of India and relevant provision of the
Indian Penal Code provide adequate safeguards.

Detention and Enforced Disappearances

India has signed the Convention for Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearance. The Constitution of India itself provides protection in such matters. Apart from Article 21 itself, under Article 20(3) of the Constitution, no person accused of
any offence can be compelled to be a witness against himself. Articles 22 (1) and (2) provide that a person who is arrested must be informed as soon as may be of the grounds of his arrest. The person also has the right to consult a lawyer of his choice. An
arrested person must be produced before the nearest magistrate within 24 hours of his arrest. To protect persons in police custody from abuse, the Supreme Court has laid down specific rules that police must follow while making arrests, such as informing relatives
of an arrest or detention, recording the arrest in a diary, medical examination norms, signing of "Inspection Memo" both by the arrestee and the police officer effecting the arrest etc. (e.g. D.K. Basu v. State of West Bengal (1996(9) SCALE).

Legal Aid

The National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) was constituted in 1987 under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 to provide free Legal Services to the weaker sections of the society and to organize Lok Adalats for amicable settlement of disputes. In
every State, State Legal Services Authority has been constituted to give effect to the policies and directions of the NALSA and to give free legal services to the people and conduct Lok Adalats in the State. The State Legal Services Authority is headed by
the Chief Justice of the respective High Court who is the Patron-in-Chief. In every District, District Legal Services Authority has been constituted to implement Legal Services Programmes in the District. The District Legal Services Authority is situated in
the District Courts Complex in every District and chaired by the District Judge of the respective district. Until March 31, 2009, about 96.99 lakh people have benefited through legal aid and advice throughout the country in which about 13.83 lakh persons belonging
to Scheduled Caste and 4.64 lakh people of Scheduled Tribe communities were beneficiaries. More than 10.22 lakh people were women and about 2.35 lakh people in custody were also benefitted. About 7.25 lakh Lok Adalats have been held throughout the country
in which more than 2.68 million cases have been settled.

The Gram Nyayalayas Act, 2008 which came into force in 2009 provides for the establishment of Gram Nyayalayas (Village Courts) at the grass roots level for the purposes of providing access to justice to the citizens at their doorsteps and to ensure that
opportunities for securing justice are not denied to any citizen by reason of social, economic or other disabilities. Many States have established the Gram Nyayalayas and many more are in the process of establishing it. The Village Court has jurisdiction over
certain civil and criminal matters as well as select legislations mentioned in the Act.

Corruption

In order to curb corruption and in a path-breaking development, the Government has introduced the Lok Pal and Lokayukta Bill in Parliament in 2011. This was passed by the Lok Sabha in December 2011 and is now before the Rajya Sabha for its consideration.
The Bill provides, inter alia, for bringing the Prime Minister as well within the ambit of the Lok Pal.

Human Trafficking

India has ratified the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and its two protocols, including the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, in May 2011 . The Constitution of
India vide Article 23, prohibits both trafficking in human beings and forced labour. Substantive laws like the Indian Penal Code 1860, special legislations like the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act 1956, the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act 1976, etc.
and local laws like the Goa Children’s Act 2003, provide the legal regime to combat and prevent Human Trafficking. In addition, judgments by the Supreme Court and various High Courts have provided further legal strength to the law enforcement agencies.

India has made significant efforts on the issue of human trafficking. We have, inter alia, already set up 87 local anti-trafficking units and increased the numbers of convictions of people involved in human trafficking for forced labour. It is worth mentioning
that Project IND/S16 of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, which is a joint initiative of UNODC and the Government of India, was launched in April 2006 in India. This project is focused on "Strengthening the law enforcement response in India against
trafficking in persons, through training and capacity building”. The major activities in the project are training of police officials and prosecutors, setting up Integrated Anti Human Trafficking Units, establishing networks among law enforcement agencies
and civil society partners as well as developing appropriate tools including Protocols, Manuals, Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) and other training aids. It is proposed to establish 330 Anti-Human Trafficking Units throughout the country and impart training
to 10,000 police officers through Training of Trainers (TOTs) component in three years. A comprehensive scheme for prevention of trafficking and rescue, rehabilitation, re-integration and repatriation of victims of trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation
namely "Ujjawala” is being implemented since 2007 under which 76 rehabilitative homes have been sanctioned which can accommodate nearly 3800 victims. The Scheme provides for shelter, food, and clothing for victims, counselling, medical care, and legal and
other support, vocational training and income generation activities. It is done in partnership with NGOs.

Homosexuals

Homosexual intercourse was a criminal offence until 2009 under Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860. The law was struck down by the 2009 Supreme Court decision in Naz Foundation v. Govt. of NCT of Delhi as a violation of fundamental rights in the
case of consensual adults but not for minors.

Left Wing Extremism

A major internal challenge has been left wing extremism and violence. The Left Wing Extremists (LWE) have killed 415 civilians and 127 security forces till November 30th 2011. Most of those killed by LWE belong to poor and marginalised sections of society.
They also carry out torture and executions after holding kangaroo courts called Jan Adalats. They have also inflicted serious damage on infrastructure in their areas of dominance.

It is the belief of Government of India that through a combination of development and security related interventions, the LWE problem can be successfully tackled. However, it is clear that these Maoists do not want issues like underdevelopment etc. addressed
in a meaningful manner since they resort to targeting school buildings, roads, railways, bridges, health infrastructure, communication facilities etc. in a major way. They wish to keep the population in their areas of influence marginalized to perpetuate their
outdated ideology. Consequently, the process of development has been set back by decades in many parts of the country under LWE influence. This needs to be recognised by the civil society and others to build pressure on the Maoists to eschew violence, join
the mainstream and recognise the fact that the socio-economic and political dynamics and aspirations of a 21st Century India are far removed from the Maoist world-view. At present 83 districts are identified as Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected districts
for coverage under its Security Related Expending (SRE) Scheme. The threats will be met with compassion, people-oriented development and resolve.

V. ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS

Some recent significant developments in the field of education, employment generation, food security as well as other socio-economic sectors are as follows:

Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education

As the 86th Amendment to the Constitution, the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009 came into force from April 1, 2010. The Act makes it mandatory for every child between the ages of 6-14 to be provided free and compulsory
education by the State. This landmark Act made education for every child in the age group of 6-14 years a justiciable right up to 8 years of elementary education in an age appropriate classroom in the vicinity of his/her neighborhood. The Act has special provisions
for girl child education including out of school girl children. It also mandates the private schools to ensure at least 25% of its seats are available to children from marginalised households. The implementation of RTE Act is a shared responsibility of both
the central and the state governments. The total expenditure incurred for implementation of this Act would be managed by the centre-state at a ratio of 68:32.

The Act has considerable implications for the implementation of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA). SSA is Government of India's flagship programme for achievement of Universalization of Elementary Education (UEE) in a time bound manner, as mandated by 86th amendment
to the Constitution. SSA is being implemented in partnership with State Governments to cover the entire country and address the needs of 192 million children in 1.1 million habitations. Steps have been initiated to harmonise the vision, strategy and norms
under SSA with the RTE Act, 2009 mandate. The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Rules, 2010 have been formed and a National Advisory Council was set-up in 2010 to advice the Central Government on implementation of the provision of the RTE
Act, 2009 in an effective manner.

The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) introduced in 2001-02 has positively impacted on the access and retention in schools and availability of teachers. SSA has ensured almost universal access to primary education. It provides special focus on education of girls.
The following achievements under SSA are worth mentioning:

The number of rural habitations with access to a primary school increased from 87 per cent in 2002 to 99 per cent in 2008, and that of an upper primary school from 78 per cent to 92 per cent during the same period.

99% of the rural population has a primary school within 1 km.

The results of an independent survey in 2010 show that for the age group 6–14 years in all of rural India, the percentage of children who are not enrolled in school has dropped from 6.6% in 2005 to 3.5% in 2010. The proportion of girls in the age group
11–14 years who were out of school has also declined from 11.2% in 2005 to 5.9% in 2010.

The Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) at the primary level improved from 96.3 in 2001–02 to 114.37 in 2008-09, that for upper primary from 60.2 to 76.23.

The gender gap in enrolment at the elementary level impressively declined from 17 to 7 percentage points. Gender Parity Index improved from 0.83 in 2001-02 to 1.00 in 2008-09 at primary level and from 0.77 to 0.96 at upper primary level.

Further, Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) was launched in March 2009 to enhance access to secondary education and improve its quality, while ensuring equity.

National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005

In a country like India where labour power is the only economic asset for millions of people, gainful employment becomes the only channel for the fulfilment of the other basic rights – the right to life, the right to food, and the right to education. The
NREGA Scheme is one of the largest in the world in terms of finances and outreach. This model of rural growth is revolutionary because of its basic principles of inclusive growth, the right to work and a rational centre-state relationship.

The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), was enacted in 2005 under this Act, every household in rural India has a right to at least 100 days of guaranteed employment every year for at least one adult member. The employment is in the form of
casual manual labour at the statutory minimum wage, and the wages shall be paid within 7 days of the week during which work was done.

Since September 2008, this scheme has been extended to all the districts of the country. More than 4.51 crores households were provided employment in 2008–09, marking a significant jump over the 3.39 crore households covered under the scheme during 2007–08.
Out of the 216.32 crore man-days created under the scheme during this period, 29 and 25 per cent were in favour of the Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) population respectively, while 48 per cent of the total person days created went in favour
of women. An allocation of Rs 39,100 crore has been made for MGNREGA in the Budget for 2009–10 as against Rs 30,000 crore in 2008–09.

States have reported that social audit has been conducted in 91% of the Gram Panchayats. 2.44 lakh reports on Social Audit have been uploaded on the MGNREGA website. A new scheme of monitoring by eminent citizens has also been introduced.

Food Security and Strengthening of Public Distribution System

In order to ensure food security for citizens of the country to ensure their right to live with dignity, the government introduced the National Food Security Bill, 2011 in the Parliament in December 2011. The landmark Food Security Bill gives legal right
to cheaper food grains to 63.5 per cent of the country’s population. Under this legislation, people eligible under priority category would be entitled to 7 kg of food grains comprising rice, wheat and coarse grains per person per month at very low rates. The
food security law, which will be implemented by States in several phases, seeks to significantly extend the reach of India's existing public food distribution system that sells rice, wheat and a few other food items to low-income families much below market
prices.

The Public Distribution System (PDS) has become an important part of Government’s policy for management of food economy in the country. Given the joint responsibility of the Central and the State Governments, it is used as a dual purpose vehicle – on the
one hand for giving farmers remunerative prices for their produce through Minimum Support Price (MSP), and on the other hand, to provide food security to the most vulnerable sections of the society. The Department of Food and Public Distribution also makes
allocation of food grains for other welfare schemes implemented by various Ministries/ Departments of the Government of India as well as State Governments at subsidized below-poverty-line (BPL) prices. In addition, the 11th Five Year Plan Schemes also give
added fillip to this sector, food related training and infrastructure development being one of them.

Labour

The Government has enacted the Unorganised Workers’ Social Security Act, 2008 for providing social security to unorganised workers. The Act provides for constitution of National Social Security Board for formulation of Social Security schemes, viz. i) health
and maternity benefits ii) death and disability iii) old age protection . The National Board was constituted on August 2009. The Government has also set up National Social Security Fund for unorganised sector workers to benefit 43.3 crore workers in the unorganised
sector. This fund will support schemes for weavers, toddy tappers, rickshaw pullers, beedi workers etc., including women.

Eradication of the practise of manual scavenging is an area of priority for the Government and a three-pronged strategy has been adopted through legislation, development and rehabilitation. Out of the 7.70 lakh manual scavengers and dependents to be rehabilitated
by the National Scheme for Liberation and Rehabilitation of Scavengers and their dependents (NSLRS), 4.28 lakhs have been rehabilitated into alternative occupations. For the remaining 3.42 lakhs, the Self Employment Scheme for Rehabilitation of Manual Scavengers
(SRMS) was launched in January, 2007. The Scheme is being implemented at the national level through the four National Finance and Development Corporations, which implement it through their State Channelizing Agencies (SCAs). Most of the eligible and willing
beneficiaries identified under SRMS have been given loans for alternative occupations.

Health

Under Article 47 of the Directive Principles of State Policy in the Indian Constitution, the State has a duty to raise the level of nutrition and improve public health. In terms of life expectancy, child survival and maternal mortality, India’s performance
has improved steadily. Life expectancy is now 63.5 years, infant mortality rate is now 50 per 1000 live births, maternal mortality ratio is down to 212 per 100,000 live births (2009) and total fertility rate has declined to 2.6 (2009) from 3.2 (2000). However,
there are inequities based on rural-urban divide, gender imbalance and child nutrition. The Government prepared a Strategy Note to ‘Address India’s Nutrition Challenges’ and this was discussed with various stakeholders and presented to the PM’s National Council
for India’s Nutrition Challenges. The decisions taken are being vigorously followed up though challenges continue on the child nutrition front.

Housing

Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), 2005 (both components relating to Basic Services to the Urban Poor Scheme and Integrated Housing and Slum Development Programmes) provides focused attention to integrated development of urban infrastructure
and services in select 65 cities with emphasis on urban poor, slum improvement, community toilets/ baths, etc. Under JNNURM a total of 15.71 lakh dwelling units approved for construction. Out of these 5,910 lakh dwelling units are completed and 3.88 lakh is
under progress. 3.16 lakh dwelling units have been allotted to the occupants. Total Central share approved under JNNURM is rupees 21,702.25 crore. Out of this a total of 12,077.63 crore has been released to States. It is pertinent to mention here that under
JNNURM regular State and regional reviews are held by the Ministry from time to time for close monitoring. In addition to this, Government has empanelled agencies to play the role of Third Party Inspection and Monitoring Agency (TPIMA) for monitoring the progress
and quality of projects under JNNURM and instalments are sanctioned only after the quality is certified to be satisfactory by the TPIMA.

Further, a new scheme called ‘Rajiv Awas Yojana’ (RAY) has been announced in June, 2009. This scheme aims at providing support to States that are willing to provide property rights to slum dwellers and enabling them to avail of the same level of basic amenities
as the rest of the town. Under Interest Subsidy Scheme for Housing the Urban Poor (ISHUP), beneficiary borrowers may choose fixed or floating rates.

Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY)

The Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY) is a flagship scheme of the Ministry of Rural Development to provide houses to the Below Poverty Line (BPL) families in the rural areas. It has been in operation since 1985-86. Since inception, 250.46 lakh houses have been
constructed at an expenditure of Rs. 65,683.62 million (till 31.1.2011). There is high degree of satisfaction with this scheme since the scheme enables beneficiaries to participate in the construction of their own houses. The role of the State Government is
limited to the release of funds and facilitating use of appropriate technology.

Sanitation

Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC) is a comprehensive programme to ensure sanitation facilities in rural areas. TCS has been able to accelerate the sanitation coverage from a mere 22% as per 2001 census to approximately 68% in December 2010.

Poverty Eradication

In a significant development, poverty has declined from 36% in 1993-94 to 27.5% in 2004-05 at all India level. The method for estimation of poverty has been reviewed by the Planning Commission from time to time. Earlier, the estimation was based on separate
rural and urban poverty lines from the Lakdawala Committee recommendations which were updated using different price indices for rural and urban areas. Based on the Lakdawala Committee methodology, we estimated that poverty has declined from 36% in 1993-94
to 27.5% in 2004-05 at all India level. The Planning Commission in December, 2005 constituted another Expert Group under the Chairmanship of Prof. Suresh D. Tendulkar to review alternate concepts of poverty and to recommend changes in the existing procedures
used for official estimates of poverty. The Tendulkar Committee submitted the Report in 2009. According to the Tendulkar Committee, poverty declined from 45.3% in 1993-94 to 37.2% in 2004-05 for the country as a whole. The Planning Commission has accepted
the poverty estimates recomputed by Tendulkar Committee for the years 1993-94 and 2004-05. Though the level of poverty according to the Tendulkar methodology gives a higher estimate, the extent of poverty reduction in comparable percentage point decline between
1993-94 and 2004-05 is not different from that inferred from Lakdawala methodology.

Employment

M/o HUPA is implementing the scheme of Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY) since 1997 on all India basis aimed at to provide gainful employment to urban poor through encouraging the setting up of self employment ventures, skill training and also
through providing wage employment by utilizing their labour for construction of socially and economically useful public assets. The scheme has been comprehensively revamped in the year 2009. SJSRY scheme is being monitored at national level through the Quarterly
Progress Reports (QPRs) from the States giving component-wise physical and financial progress for each component. Periodical review meetings at National, Regional and State level are also held by the Government to monitor the progress of the scheme. Under
SJSRY a total of 11,72,244 urban poor assisted for setting up of micro enterprises, 20,13,352 urban poor provided skilled training, 4,69,948 beneficiaries assisted for setting up of group micro enterprises and 771.87 lakh man-days of work generated. Total
expenditure reported by States under SJSRY is 310623.02 lakh.

VI. GROUPS IN NEED OF SPECIAL ATTENTIONCHILDREN

A combination of law and robust policy initiatives has given a strong thrust to the protection and welfare of children in India. The development of children has received considerable attention in the 11th Five Year Plan. It takes forward the agenda of child
rights and inclusive growth by further strengthening legislations and expanding the delivery systems. Some of the initiatives include universalization of services for nutrition and development of children in the age group of 0-6 years; adoption of free and
compulsory education for the age group of 6-14 years; amendment of existing legislations; and launch of comprehensive schemes for protection of children in difficult circumstances, working children, victims of trafficking and other vulnerable children.

National Commission for Protection of Child Rights

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) was set up on March 5, 2007 under the Commissions for Protection of Child Rights (CPCR) Act, 2005. It is one of the few commissions of its kind in Asia. The Commission ensures that all laws,
policies, programmes, and administrative mechanism are in consonance with the child rights perspectives enshrined in the Constitution and CRC. In addition, it produces and disseminates information about child rights, takes suo motu cognizance of violation
of rights and analyses data on children. Recently, the Commission has also been entrusted with the monitoring of the fundamental right to free and compulsory education. During the year 2010-2011 (up to February 28, 2011), NCPCR has dealt with 675 complaints
of violations/deprivations of child rights on the issue of child labour, sexual abuse, corporal punishment, Juvenile Justice, child abuse, girl child, police atrocities, child health and malnutrition, etc. The Commission constituted an Expert Group in 2009
with eminent persons from government and NGOs for advice on matters relating to NCPCR’s role in monitoring children’s right to education. NCPCR has also involved civil society in the Social Audit of the RTE to strengthen the process of performance and delivery.

The impressive developments through the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan have been dealt with earlier in the report, which has positively impacted on the access to and retention in schools.

The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000, (JJ Act, 2000) is the principal legislation for the protection of children. Article 15 of the Constitution also provides the necessary mandate. The JJ Act was amended in 2006 to ensure better
care and protection for children. The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Rules, 2007, (JJ Rules, 2007) were also made by the Government for effective implementation and administration of the Act. In 2006, the scope of the Act was expanded by
including child beggars and working children in the category of children in need of care and protection. It also prohibits placement of a juvenile in conflict with law in police custody/lock-up. It also allows for adoption of children from juvenile homes.
In November, 2010, the Ministry introduced the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Amendment Bill, 2010, with the aim of removing discriminatory references against children affected by diseases such as leprosy, Hepatitis B, sexually transmitted
diseases and tuberculosis. It has since been passed by the Parliament.

In 2006, the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act (PCMA) was enacted repealing the Child Marriage Restraint Act of 1929 making child marriage an offence.

Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS)

The Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS) for children in difficult circumstances was launched in 2009-10 and aims to reduce their vulnerability to situations and actions that could lead to abuse, neglect, exploitation, abandonment and separation. The
Scheme subsumes three central schemes namely (i) Programme for Juvenile Justice, (ii) Integrated Programme for Street Children and (iii) Scheme of ‘Assistance to Homes (Shishu Greh) for Children, with improved norms and new initiatives to cover the gaps identified
in these Schemes. All State Governments/UTs (except Jammu and Kashmir) have signed Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) with MWCD to implement the Scheme. More than 90,000 children are, at present, benefiting under the Scheme. The Scheme has also been a catalyst
in building a climate of understanding on protection issues of children and generating interest for the same amongst all stake-holders, thus bringing these issues into focus on the priority list of State Governments. Several initiatives have been taken under
the Scheme including:

Establishing Statutory Bodies in every district and Service Delivery structures for Child Protection at State and District levels

Initiation of Child Protection Division in the National Institute for Public Cooperation and Child Development (NIPCCD)

Child Tracking System

Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS)

The period from birth to six years of age, especially those below two years of age is considered the most important period for any intervention on malnutrition. The ICDS, launched in 1975, is the only comprehensive programme addressing the health, nutrition
and pre-school needs of children under six. It provides a package of services comprising of supplementary nutrition, pre-school non-formal education, nutrition & health education, immunization, health check-up and referral services. The Scheme, inter alia,
aims to improve the nutritional and health status of pregnant and lactating mothers and children below 6 years of age. This service works through a network of anganwadi centres (AWC) and mini-AWCs run by anganwadi workers (AWW) and helpers (AWH). It is a centrally
sponsored programme with the Government of India contributing towards 90% of all costs and 50% of the cost of supplementary nutrition and the remaining is to be funded by the state governments. The budgetary allocation for ICDS has been greatly increased from
Rs.10,391.75 crore in Tenth Five Year Plan to Rs.44,400 crore in the Eleventh Plan period. Additionally, Rs. 9000 crore has been allocated for maternity entitlements scheme. Recognising the need to cover children under two years of age, the 11th plan focused
‘restructuring’ the ICDS, so that the programme is universalised, supplementary nutrition is of better quality, fund transfer is made on time and maternity and child care services are provided. Beneficiaries of the ICDS are 975.74 lakhs, including 795.5 lakhs
children (6 months to 6 years) and 180.24 lakhs pregnant and lactating mothers.

The Pre-School Education (PSE) component of the ICDS Scheme is being strengthened to ensure universalisation of early childhood education and preparation of children, particularly those belonging to socially disadvantaged groups, for formal schooling. The
beneficiaries under PSE have increased from 21.4 million in 2004-05 to 33 million in 2007-08 and further to 35 million by December 2010.

Exploitation of Children

The Information and Technology Act was amended in 2008 to address exploitation of children through the internet. Section 67 (b) provides for punishment for publishing or transmitting material depicting children in sexually explicit acts, etc. in electronic
form.

Since sexual offences against children are not fully addressed by existing legislation, the Government introduced a Bill in Parliament on Protection of Children from Sexual Offences in March, 2011 and is currently under consideration of the Rajya Sabha.
The Bill provides for special courts for the trial of such offences, stringent punishment to offenders, child friendly court procedures and punishment for not reporting the offence to police or appropriate authority.

Adoption and Alternative Care

Adoption procedures in the country are governed by Guidelines notified by the Government of India. The Guidelines have been revised from time to time, from 1989 to 2011, to streamline the adoption procedures and processes and to clearly define the roles
and responsibilities of those involved. In order to incorporate and give cognizance to the amended JJ Act, 2006 and Model Rules, 2007, wherein it was stated that surrendered children could be rehabilitated through adoption and that children can be given in
adoption in accordance with guidelines laid down by the Central Adoption Resource Agency (CARA), and keeping in mind the various directions from different courts in India with regard to adoption procedures and further stipulations for inter-country adoptions
laid down by the Special Commission of the Hague Convention held in 2010, it became imperative to revise the Guidelines to reflect changes brought about by these new developments. Guidelines Governing Adoption of Children have been accordingly revised and
notified by the Government in June, 2011. A web-based Child Adoption Resource Information and Guidance System (CARINGS) has been launched under which prospective parents can register on-line, track the progress of their application and get information about
availability of children, thus making the process of adoption more transparent.

Child Labour

At the time of accession to CRC, Government of India made a declaration to Article 32 of the Convention stating "Measures would be undertaken to progressively implement the provisions of Article 32 since it is not practical immediately to prescribe minimum
age for admission to each and every area of employment in India”. Given the socio-economic conditions in the country, a multi-pronged strategy for elimination of child labour has been adopted, which emphasises on:

Legislative measures

General development programmes for the benefit of families of child labour

Project-based action in areas of high concentration of child labour

As mentioned in our earlier 2008 UPR, Government is following "a sequential approach of first covering the children in hazardous occupations and then moving on to non-hazardous occupations.” Presently, all child labour under 14 years is prohibited. Further,
as per Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act, 1986, children below the age of 14 years are prohibited for employment in hazardous occupations/processes specified in the Act. Consequently, India has not ratified ILO Conventions No. 138 and 182 fixing
minimum age of employment as 18 years. The Government is working on the modalities of ratifying these ILO Conventions, particularly No. 182 initially. Inter-Ministerial consultations are taking place to work purposefully towards obtaining Governmental approval
on the ratification. However, it is pertinent to point out that the Government issued three notifications (on July 10, 2006, September 25, 2008, and October 8, 2010) in the last five years, expanding the list of banned and hazardous processes and occupations
in Schedule II of the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986. The number of occupations listed in Part A now is 18 and the number of processes listed in Part B is 65. Further, the worst forms of child labour are already prohibited under various
Acts such as Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act,1976, Immoral Traffic Prevention Act-1956, the Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substance Act, 1988 and Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act.

The Government is implementing National Child Labour Project (NCLP) for the rehabilitation of child labour. Project societies at the District level are fully funded for opening up of special schools/rehabilitation centres for the rehabilitation of child
labour. The NCLP is in operation in 271 Districts, with about 10,000 special schools with a sanctioned enrolment strength of over 0.5 million. These special schools impart non-formal/formal education, vocational training, etc. to children withdrawn from employment,
so as to prepare them to join mainstream education system.

Mid-Day Meals Scheme for Children in schools

This coverage of this immensely popular Mid-Day Meals Scheme for children in schools, which satisfies both ‘hunger’ and ‘education,’ has been extended even further in August 2009 and now covers all children studying in Classes I-VIII in Government, Government-aided
and Local Body schools and Education Guarantee Scheme (EGS) and Alternative and Innovative Education centres supported under SSA, including Madarasas and Maqtabs as well as children under National Child Labour Projects.

WOMEN

The Constitution of India guarantees equality of status of women and has laid the foundation for such advancement. It also permits reverse discrimination in favour of women and many important programmes have been designed specifically to benefit girls and
women. In order to give practical shape to the constitutional directives, a number of laws have been enacted by the Indian Parliament, which has brought forth a perceptible improvement in the status of women. Some of these are: Prohibition of Child Marriage
Act, 2006, the Hindu Succession Act, 1956; the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986; the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961; the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961; the Equal Remuneration Act, 1976; The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956; The Pre-conception
and Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act, 1994; and the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005. These legislations provide protection to women at the work place, against social discrimination, violence and atrocities,
child marriage, dowry demands, domestic violence, etc.

India’s central planning body, the Planning Commission of India, through its Five Year Plans is committed to enable women to be "equal partners and participants in development”. The ongoing Eleventh Five Year development plan of India (2007-12) has recognized
women as agents of sustained socio-economic growth and change and funding as well as programmatic support is being provided to a large number of gender specific programmes and schemes.

The amendment of the Hindu Succession Act in 2005 was an important legal reform which will contribute towards economic empowerment of women, giving daughters equal rights in the ancestral property.

Domestic violence against women is integrally linked to women’s economic dependence and lack of support systems. Recognising this, the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 has been envisaged as a civil law, which not only entitles women
to get a Protection Order but also various forms of reliefs such as maintenance, compensation, residence and custody. The PWDVA for the first time defines ‘domestic violence’ and affirms the right of a woman to lead a violence-free life.

Declining Child Sex Ratio is a matter of serious concern. To deal with this, the Government of India has in place the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Technique (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act 1994 which prohibits sex selection and regulates prenatal
diagnostic techniques to prevent their misuse for sex determination leading to sex-selective abortion. Recent steps taken in this direction include amendment of Rules to provide for confiscation on unregistered machines and further punishment for unregistered
ultrasound clinics and reconstitution and strengthening of the National Inspection and Monitoring Committee.

In several milestone decisions, the Supreme Court of India has established jurisprudence reinforcing women’s rights and the provision of a safe and healthy environment at home and work. The Delhi High Court in a landmark verdict on March 12, 2010 has directed
the Indian Air Force (IAF) to allow its lady officers to be eligible for the Permanent Commission (PC) status. Prior to this women officers were restricted to Short Service Commission (SSC) status, which entitles a maximum service period of 14 years as against
a PC officer who is eligible to serve till the age of 60 and are also eligible to various other benefits.

The National Commission for Women also works as the autonomous watchdog for redressal of matters pertaining to deprivation of women’s rights and for recommending amendment of laws to promote gender justice and equality.

Mandatory registration of the wife in all property owned or acquired by the husband is another progressive step taken by many of the State Governments. Further, in government financed asset ownership schemes are made to ensure women’s ownership of assets.
Thus in housing schemes like the Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY) or the Rajiv Gandhi Gramin LPG Vitrak (RGGLPGV) Scheme, the allotment of is done in the name of the female member of the households or in the joint names of husband and wife.

Recognising that increased female literacy is a force multiplier for social development programmes, the Government has launched a National Mission for Female Literacy in 2009 to make every woman literate in five years.

The significant advance made by women today is also evident from various socio-economic indicators relating to health, literacy and education, workforce participation rate etc. In the field of education, girls constitute approximately 48.46% of the total
enrolment of the primary level and 41.12% at the upper primary level (District Information System for Education (DISE) 2009-10), which is encouraging. The 2011 Census has shown improvements in the literacy rate of women, from 53.67% in 2001 to 65.46% of the
population in 2011, and in the total sex ratio, from 933 females in 2001 to 940 females per 1000 males in 2011. On the health front too, Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) has reduced from 301 per one lakh live births to 212 per one lakh live births, (SRS 2009).

Under Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) launched in 2005 is a safe motherhood intervention, which specifically focuses on reduction of maternal and infant mortality by promoting institutional delivery among poor women. The number of beneficiaries has increased
from 0.739 million in 2005-06 to about 10 million in 2009-10. Several programmes and schemes are being implemented to address infant and child mortality. Notable among these are Universal Immunisation Programme, under which immunisation of children is undertaken
against six vaccine preventable diseases; Integrated Management of Neonatal Childhood Illnesses (IMNCI), which focuses on the preventive, promotive and curative aspects among newborns and children. The Reproductive and Child Health (RCH) Programme has entered
its second phase (2005-2010) to address three critical health indicators, i.e. reducing total fertility rate, infant mortality rate and maternal mortality ratio.

In order to incentivise the birth of a girl child and encourage families to place a premium on her education and development, a number of States are implementing Conditional Cash Transfer schemes – Dhanalakshmi, launched in March, 2008.

Recognising the problem of "missing’’ girls as a result of sex-selective abortions, infanticide or neglect, the ICPS envisages setting up Cradle Baby Reception Centres in each district. These Cradle Baby Reception Centres will be linked to other centres
to receive abandoned babies.

Recognising the compulsions faced by many women who continue to work till the last stage of pregnancy and resume work soon after childbirth, a new initiative has been launched recently by the Ministry of Women & Child Development (MWCD) in the FY 2010-11.
‘Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojana (IGMSY)’ is a Conditional Maternity Benefit (CMB) Scheme” that has been launched on a pilot basis in 52 districts of the country, with the two-fold objective of providing cash assistance to pregnant and lactating women
to overcome loss of working days and providing better nutrition to such women. The Scheme is implemented using the ICDS platform and will cover approximately 14 lakh women in the initial years.

Mainstreaming Gender

One of the key initiatives undertaken by the Government of India to promote gender equality has been the adoption in 2005 of Gender Budgeting (GB) as a tool for mainstreaming gender in all government policies and programmes. Through Gender Budgeting the
Government aims to ensure the translation of Government’s policy commitments on gender equity into budgetary allocations. To institutionalise this process, the Government had initiated the formation of Gender Budget Cells (GBCs) within all Central Ministries/
Departments to serve as focal points for coordinating gender budgeting initiatives. So far 56 Ministries/Departments have set up GBCs. In March 2007, the Ministry of Finance issued a Charter for Gender Budget Cells (GBCs).

The Government has also been focusing on interventions in the sphere of economic empowerment through generating employment opportunities for poor and women, capacity-building especially through the Self-Help Groups (SHGs) movement. The movement has shown
a very strong potential in bringing women’s voices in informal institutions. There are around six million SHGs of which 80% are women’s groups.

In order to ensure that the benefits of Government budgetary allocations and programmes are effectively accessed by women, the Government also focuses on ensuring convergence and better coordination among the concerned Ministries/Departments. With this
in view, the National Mission for Empowerment of Women was launched on 8th March, 2010 for socio-economic empowerment of women by strengthening coordination and convergence of women centric and pro women schemes/programmes of all participating Ministries/Departments
as well as the State Governments.

Registration of Marriages

In spite of the socio-economic challenges, India is working towards making registration of all marriages compulsory. This direction also comes from the Supreme Court which in its judgment in the case of Seema v. Ashwini Kumar (2006) directed that registration
of marriages of all persons, irrespective of their religion, who are citizens of India should be made compulsory in their respective States. In this context 19 States have already taken necessary legislative measures for compulsory registration of marriages.

PERSONS WITH DISABILITY

According to the Census 2001, there are 2.19 million persons with disabilities in India who constitute 2.13 percent of the total population. This includes persons with visual, hearing, speech, locomotor and mental disabilities. Seventy-five (75) per cent
of persons with disabilities live in rural areas, 49 per cent of disabled population is literate and only 34 per cent are employed.

The emphasis is now on social rehabilitation. There has been an increasing recognition of their abilities and emphasis on mainstreaming them in the society. The GoI has enacted three legislations for persons with disabilities, namely, (i) Persons with Disability
(Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995, which provides for education, employment, creation of barrier free environment, social security, etc. (ii) National Trust for Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental
Retardation and Multiple Disability Act, 1999 has provisions for legal guardianship of the four categories and creation of enabling environment for as much independent living as possible. (iii) Rehabilitation Council of India Act, 1992 deals with the development
of manpower for providing rehabilitation services.

India became a Party to the United Nations Convention protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disability (UNCRPD) in 2008. The Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act of
1995 (PWD Act) requires to be modified to incorporate areas recognized in the UNCRPD. Therefore the Government is in the process of drawing up a new legislation in place of PWD Act, 1995, keeping in view the developments which have taken place in the disability
sector and to harmonize the provisions of PWD Act with UNCRPD and provisions of other legislations on the subject.

OLDER PERSONS

As the society is witnessing a withering away of the joint family system, a large number of parents and senior citizens are being neglected. The Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act of 2007 was enacted in December 2007 to ensure their
need-based maintenance and welfare. The Act has already been notified by more than 20 States and all UTs. In pursuance of the National Policy on Older Persons, a National Council for Older Persons was constituted as the highest body to advise the Government
and oversee the implementation of the policies.

SCHEDULED CASTES AND SCHEDULED TRIBES AND MINORITIES

India’s programme of affirmative action is without parallel in scale and dimension in human history. Apart from the Fundamental Rights to prohibit discrimination in any inform, Constitution also provides for advancement of Scheduled Castes (SC), Schedules
Tribes (ST) and other backward classes (OBC). Legislative measures and guaranteed political representation provides for strong and robust protection for SCs and STs. A programme of ‘compensatory discrimination’ reserves 15% for SCs and 7.5% for STs in employment,
education and a range of areas.

Their socio-economic backwardness has been specifically addressed in the Eleventh Plan through the approach of ‘faster and inclusive growth’ and a three-pronged strategy has been adopted namely: (i) social empowerment; (ii) economic empowerment; and (iii)
social justice, to ensure removal of disparities and elimination of exploitation.
Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs)

In upholding the constitutional commitment, specific legislations and programmes are being implemented specifically for SCs and STs:

Under the CSS Implementation of Protection of Civil Rights (PCR) Act, 1955, and Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities [PoA]) Act, since 1989, financial assistance is provided for strengthening the administrative, enforcement, and
judicial machinery related to these legislations, publicity, and relief and rehabilitation of the affected persons. In the first three years of the Eleventh Plan, the expenditure incurred amounted to Rs 150.8 million against the outlay of Rs 123 million accounting
for 122.6 per cent of the total outlay.

In order to ensure early prosecution of cases under the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities (Act), 1989, special courts and special police stations for offences against SCs and STs have been set up in a number of States. 77 such special police stations have
been set up so far.

Improving the educational status of SCs, especially of women and girl children in this category is one of the main priorities. The Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) of Post-matric Scholarships to SC students, involving 100 per cent central assistance to
states over and above their earlier committed liability, has been accorded high priority in the Eleventh Plan. A total of 104 lakh SC students have benefited under the scheme during the first three years of the Eleventh Plan. In the Pre-matric Scholarship
Scheme, which was launched in 1977–78, is an important scheme for financial assistance to children of parents engaged in occupations, such as scavengers, tanners, flayers, and sweepers. The scheme was revised in December 2008 for extending 100 per cent central
assistance to state/UTs. Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship (RGNF) scheme for SC students was launched in 2006 with the objective of providing financial assistance to SC students pursuing MPhil and PhD. Under this scheme, 1,333 fellowships are provided annually
to SC beneficiaries. There are parallel educational development schemes for ST candidates and students also and the Eleventh Plan target of ST beneficiaries is 55 lakhs.

The National Scheduled Castes Finance and Development Corporation (NSCFDC) was set up in 1989 to provide soft loans to SCs living below the poverty line (per capita income below Rs 44,500) for taking up income generating self-employment ventures. Rs 130
million have been released to NSCFDC in the first three years of the Eleventh Five-Year Plan against the Plan allocation of Rs 133 million accounting for 97.74 per cent utilization. Beneficiaries covered under the scheme since its inception till date is 6.90
lakh of which 3.38 lakh (52.5 per cent) are women.

The CSS Educational Complexes in the Low Literacy Pockets was revised in 2008–09 and renamed Strengthening Education among ST Girls in Low Literacy Districts. The revised scheme is being implemented in 54 identified low literacy districts where the ST population
is 25 per cent or more and ST female literacy rate is below 35 per cent. Besides formal education, the scheme also takes care of skill upgradation of ST girls in various vocations.

The Planning Commission has set up a Task Force to review guidelines on Scheduled Castes Sub-Plan (SCSP) and Tribal Sub-Plan (TSP) in June 2010.

Minorities

The Ministry of Minority Affairs was created in 2006 to ensure a more focussed approach towards issues relating to the minorities. The National Commission for Minorities is a statutory body under the National Commission for Minorities Act of 1992. A scheme
for utilisation of National Level Managers for monitoring the programmes of the Government was launched in December 2009. Since its inception in 2006, more than 67.43 lakh scholarships have been disbursed to minority students under various categories till
December 2010. In order to amend the Waqf Act 1995, the Waqf Amendment Bill 2010 was passed by the Lok Sabha and now is with the Rajya Sabha. The authorised share capital of the National Minorities Development and Finance Corporation has been increased. The
Government is actively pursuing minority related programmes under the Prime Minister's New 15-Point Programme for the Welfare of Minorities announced in 2006. Certain proportion of development projects is also to be earmarked for the minority concentration
areas. Public Sector banks have been directed to open branches in districts having substantial minority population. Since 2007-08 till March 2011, 2448 such bank branches have been opened.

VII. ENVIRONMENT AND NATIONAL GREEN TRIBUNAL

Fully conscious of India’s role in environmental protection, in an unprecedented development, the National Green Tribunal has been established in October 2010 under the National Green Tribunal Act 2010 for effective and expeditious disposal of cases relating
to environmental protection and conservation of forests and other natural resources including enforcement of any legal right relating to environment and giving relief and compensation for damages to persons and property and for matters connected therewith
or incidental thereto. It is a specialized body equipped with the necessary expertise to handle environmental disputes involving multi-disciplinary issues. The Tribunal's dedicated jurisdiction in environmental matters shall provide speedy environmental justice
and help reduce the burden of litigation in the higher courts.

VIII. HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION

The National curriculum for school education of National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has already included the human rights education component in the social science subjects. NHRC has devised a multi-pronged strategy for raising
all round human rights literacy and awareness by focusing at all levels of education – primary, secondary and higher education and has constituted a task force which has undertaken the exercise of re-modeling course curriculum for different human rights education
courses. In addition, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has also evolved a syllabus for human rights education at lower education level, which has come into force with effect from 2008.

XI. INDIA AND THE UNITED NATIONS

India continues to play an active and constructive role in all human rights related bodies and issues in the UN, including the UN Human Rights Council. India has extended a standing invitation to Special Procedures Mandate Holders during the 18th Session
of HRC in September 2011. This was in keeping with our Voluntary Pledges and Commitments made to the HRC in May 2011. Even prior to extending the standing invitation India had been regularly receiving UN Special Rapporteurs.

To enable ratification of the UNCAT, the "Prevention of Torture Bill 2010" was introduced and passed by the Lower House of Parliament (Lok Sabha) in May 2010. The Select Committee of the Upper House (Rajya Sabha) has made certain suggestions which are currently
being considered by Government.

2.

Continue to fully involve the national civil society in the follow-up to the UPR of India, as was done for its preparation (United Kingdom)

The various Ministries involve the national civil society, as appropriate, in the formulation, implementation and assessment process relating to their respective policies. These would include the process to operationalise of the recommendations of the UPR
process.

Government has continued to energize the various institutions/ mechanisms for protection and promotion of Human Rights.

4.

Encourage enhanced cooperation with human rights bodies and all relevant stakeholders in the pursuit of a society oriented towards the attainment of internationally recognized human rights goals (Ghana)

GoI is engaging with domestic and international Human Rights procedures/mechanism at various levels so as to attain internationally recognized human rights goal. Judiciary in India has also played an important role in taking cognizance of international instruments
on human rights through its judgments.

In the Census of 2011, extensive data has been collated. Indian Census has always provided data/investigations of anthropological nature such as the socio-economic survey of villages, preparation of ethnographic notes on SC/ST etc. Data on weaker sections/minorities
in the society is also available extensively on public domain.

6.

Consider signature and ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (Brazil)

The Constitution of India provides for direct access to the Supreme Court and High Courts for redressal of violations of any fundamental right, for any individual or group of individuals. In addition, we have several other statutory mechanisms to address
such violations including the National Human Rights Commissions and the State Human Rights Commissions. There is also a separate National Commission and State Commissions for Women which inter alia have a mandate to address cases of violations of women rights.
There exists, therefore, effective legal and constitutional framework to address individual cases of violations within India. Also India has been supportive and responsive to the various International Human Rights mechanism such as that of confidential complaint
and of visits of Special Rapporteur.

Government of India fully subscribes to the objectives and purposes of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (to which India is a party) as well as the ILO Conventions No. 138 and 182. Government is following "a sequential approach of first covering
the children in hazardous occupations and then moving on to non-hazardous occupations." Presently, all child labour under 14 years is prohibited. Further, as per Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act, 1986, children below the age of 14 years are prohibited
for employment in hazardous occupations/processes specified in the Act. Consequently, India has not ratified these two ILO Conventions since minimum age is fixed at 18 years. The Government is working on the modalities of ratifying these ILO Conventions, initially
on No. 182. However, it is pertinent to point out that the Government issued three notifications in the last five years, expanding the list of banned and hazardous processes and occupations in Schedule II of the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act,
1986. The number of occupations listed in Part A now is 18 and the number of processes listed in Part B is 65. Further, the worst forms of child labour are already prohibited under various Acts such as Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act,1976, Immoral Traffic
Prevention Act-1956, the Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substance Act, 1988 and Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act.

8.

Share best practices in the promotion and protection of human rights taking into account the multi-religious, multi-cultural and multi-ethnic nature of Indian society (Mauritius)

Best Practices are being included in the body of UPR - II for sharing with HRC.

9.

Review the reservation to article 32 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (the Netherlands)

Response at S.No. 7 above applies to this issue as well.

10.

Consider new ways of addressing growing economic and social inequities arising out of rapid economic growth and share experiences/ results of best practices in addressing poverty (Algeria)

The Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007-2012) advocates inclusive growth to address the economic and social inequities arising from rapid economic growth. As can be seen from our UPR - II, several policies and programmes have been put in place to counter any such
negative influence.

11.

Take into account recommendations made by treaty bodies and special procedures, especially those relating to women and children, in developing a national action plan for human rights which is under preparation (Mexico)

India has always taken into account the recommendations made by the treaty bodies and special procedures and, in accordance to our socio economic conditions, we have strived to implement these recommendations. While the NHRC is in the process of drafting
an omnibus National Action Plan for Human Rights, various ministries have fully integrated human rights issues in their own National Plans in their respective spheres. This has led to focus on promotion and protection feeding into the overall national commitment
to protect and promote of human rights.

12.

Ratify the Convention on Enforced Disappearances (Nigeria)

India has signed the Convention for Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearance. Government is studying the extent of changes in the domestic laws that would be required to bring domestic legislation compatible with the Convention. The Constitution,
however, continues to provide strong protection in such matters.

13.

Strengthen human rights education, specifically in order to address effectively the phenomenon of gender-based and caste-based discrimination (Italy)

The national curriculum for school education of NCERT has already included the human rights education component in the social science subjects. The social science subjects being taught at various levels of school education are already disseminating human
rights education to the children and are creating positive conditions for a better understanding of human rights in the young minds

India has extended a standing invitation to Special Procedures in September 2011in accordance to our voluntary pledges and commitments made to the HRC in May 2011.

15.

Receive as soon as possible the Special Rapporteur on the question of torture (Switzerland)

Since we have extended a Standing Invitation to the Special Procedures we will schedule this visit as well depending on mutual convenience.

16.

Fully integrate a gender perspective in the follow-up process to the UPR (Slovenia)

Women related issues and gender perspective has been fully integrated into India's policies in various spheres and in the follow-up to the UPR process.

17.

Follow up on CEDAW recommendations to amend the Special Marriage Act in the light of article 16 and the Committee's general recommendation 21 on giving equal rights to property accumulated during marriage (Slovenia)

India is working towards making registration of all marriages compulsory. This direction also comes from the Supreme Court which in its judgment in the case of Seema v. Ashwini Kumar (2006) directed that registration of marriages of all persons, irrespective
of their religion, who are citizens of India should be made compulsory in their respective States. In this context, 19 States have already taken necessary legislative measures for compulsory registration of marriages.

18.

Continue efforts to allow for a harmonious life in a multi-religious, multicultural, multi-ethnic and multi-lingual society and to guarantee a society constituting one-fifth of the world's population to be well fed, well housed, well cared for and well educated
(Tunisia)

Constitutional guarantees, legislation, judicial pronouncements, policies and programmes and civil society have strived to address the issue of providing its diverse population fundamental rights, justice, welfare, protection, human rights, affirmative action,
inclusive economic growth and all requirements to lead a life of dignity and prosperity as well as promoting the unity and integrity of the Nation. Our efforts have been documented in the UPR - II report.

]]>03/07/2012 11:07:06MEA Adminhttps://mea.gov.in/in-focus-article.htm?19981/List+of+Media+delegates+accompanied+PMs+visit+to+Bhutan+2829+April+2010
MEA1998119187Extension of last date for submission of application for temporary deputation of Doctors and Paramedical Staff to Saudi Arabia for Haj – 2010 duty02/04/2012 11:23:37MEA Adminhttps://mea.gov.in/in-focus-article.htm?19187/Extension+of+last+date+for+submission+of+application+for+temporary+deputation+of+Doctors+and+Paramedical+Staff+to+Saudi+Arabia+for+Haj++2010+duty
MEA1918719105Booklet on Kailash Manasarovar Yatra 201029/03/2012 15:16:02MEA Adminhttps://mea.gov.in/in-focus-article.htm?19105/Booklet+on+Kailash+Manasarovar+Yatra+2010
MEA1910519188Appointment of Chief Executive Officer, Haj Committee (India), Mumbai02/04/2012 11:26:42MEA Adminhttps://mea.gov.in/in-focus-article.htm?19188/Appointment+of+Chief+Executive+Officer+Haj+Committee+India+Mumbai
MEA1918818784Temporary deputation (Government employees only) as Assistant Haj Officer and Haj Assistant to Consulate of India, Jeddah-ADDENDUMIn continuation of our Office Memorandum of even No. dated 03rd March, 2010 regarding temporary deputation of Assistant Haj Officers and Haj Assistants to Consulate General of India, Jeddah for Haj 2010, it has been decided to extend the last date of receipt
of applications in the Ministry from 05th April, 2010 to 20th April, 2010. All the other terms and conditions remain the same.

(Vivek Jeph)
Under Secretary (Haj)

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MEA1878419189Temporary deputation (Government employees only) as Assistant Haj Officer and Haj Assistant to Consulate General of India, Jeddah02/04/2012 11:30:54MEA Adminhttps://mea.gov.in/in-focus-article.htm?19189/Temporary+deputation+Government+employees+only+as+Assistant+Haj+Officer+and+Haj+Assistant+to+Consulate+General+of+India+Jeddah
MEA1918919190Temporary Deputation of Doctors/Para-medical staff to Consulate General of India, Jeddah02/04/2012 11:35:01MEA Adminhttps://mea.gov.in/in-focus-article.htm?19190/Temporary+Deputation+of+DoctorsParamedical+staff+to+Consulate+General+of+India+Jeddah
MEA1919018813Remarks by Special Envoy of Prime Minister for Climate Change Shri Shyam Saran at the Valedictory Session of the Delhi Sustainable Development

Dr. Pachauri, Shri Chaturvedi, Excellencies, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen. I am honoured by TERI’s invitation to speak at the Valedictory session of the 10th Delhi Sustainable Development Summit. By all accounts, this has been a very successful
summit, attracting several important heads of state and government, civil society leaders, diplomats and many concerned citizens from around the globe.

Dr. Pachauri has asked me to give a brief assessment of the 15th Conference of Parties at Copenhagen (COP), which is just behind us, and then to sketch out, from the perspective of India, the route map to Cancun, where the 16th COP will be held towards
the end of the year. I have just returned after spending time at Davos, at the World Economic Forum, where Climate Change was an important item on the agenda. I took part in a couple of high level panels, where I had the privilege of meeting President Calderon,
whose country, Mexico, will be host to the 16th COP. We were all deeply impressed by the President’s great wisdom and sagacity. He will undoubtedly avoid the pitfalls that were all too apparent at Copenhagen. He is determined to lead the way to a successful
agreement in Cancun, an agreement that recognizes the global political and economic context within which Climate Change negotiations will inevitably be located, but nevertheless aiming for global cooperative action without which the challenge we face as humanity
cannot even begin to be addressed. On behalf of India, I pledged to him our full support in his difficult endeavour.

How does one assess Copenhagen? The positives should not be ignored, even as we seek to learn from the negatives. Thanks to the participation of over a hundred heads of State and government in the Conference at Copenhagen, Climate Change issues are now
better understood and appreciated at the levels which really count i.e. the political level. And thanks to such high level participation, the Conference enjoyed extraordinary media attention throughout the world and this has increased awareness of the Climate
Change challenge at the level of the ordinary citizen, on a scale which is unprecedented. So on both ends of the spectrum – the leaders and the ordinary citizenry of the world, Climate Change is on the agenda.

It was also a plus that the Conference agreed, by consensus, that multilateral negotiations must continue, under the UNFCCC, on both the Bali Action Plan and the Kyoto Protocol tracks, with unchanged mandates. This represents a reaffirmation of the principles
and provisions of the UNFCCC and of its Kyoto Protocol. At a time when the multilateral process itself is being questioned and the UN is being described as virtually irrelevant in dealing with complex global issues, the COP-15 decisions are welcome and provide
clarity on how the post-Copenhagen process should unfold. The BASIC countries, whose emergence as an influential grouping at Copenhagen has been much talked about, have agreed to work together with G77 + China to uphold the UNFCCC process.

The Copenhagen Accord, though only taken note by COP-15, is another valuable outcome. It represents a broad consensus, at the Summit level, on several key outstanding issues. It is our view that the best use we can make of the Accord, is to feed in the
points of consensus into the multilateral negotiating process. In any event, negotiations will be required to flesh out these points of consensus, for example, the Green Fund or the Technology mechanism. Problems will arise if an attempt is made to sideline
the UNFCCC process and proceed on a separate, more limited track. We need the legitimacy of the larger process. In this respect, too, the BASIC countries have articulated a common position.

If Copenhagen has negative lessons for us, these are by now, quite well-known. We were unable to make more substantive progress precisely because there was no link, no effective communication channel, between the green room and the larger plenary. There
was a pervasive lack of trust, as papers were floated after insistence at every stage that there was no Chairman’s text. We, as India, had stated that heads of state and government, should not be expected to engage in drafting. We were assured that there were
no such plans and yet this is what happened. At every stage, the comfort level of delegations was seriously eroded. This could not be the setting of a truly comprehensive, balanced and equitable outcome, which we came prepared to deliver. What I greatly appreciated
in President Calderon is the priority he says he will give to rebuilding of trust and confidence among the parties to the UNFCCC. That will be crucial.

The COP-15 took place under the shadow of the global economic and financial crisis. This meant that Climate Change actions were often looked at through the prism of sharpened anxieties about economic recovery, loss of jobs, erosion of industrial and trade
competitiveness and even the uncertainty about changes in the global pecking order. It is now clear that concern over the consequences of Climate Change is unable to trump the anxieties spawned by the global economic and financial crisis. We may, therefore,
have to live with more modest possibilities for the time being, unless, of course, there is a significant upturn in the global economy. This is a pity because there is a compelling urgency about the challenge we face from Climate Change.

I also harbour some fear over the incipient revisionism one sees emerging in the Climate Change discourse, the questioning of whether the world is really under threat from anthropogenic Climate Change. One mistake in the IPCC compilation and the whole collective
wisdom of some of the most accomplished and highly respected scientists from across the globe, is being questioned. We need to confront this, not in anger, not in pique, but with redoubled and more focused assessments in the weeks and months to come. I have
no doubt that Dr. Pachauri and his very able team will rise to the occasion.

Excellencies, distinguished guests, it remains for me to compliment TERI and Dr. Pachauri for, once again, convening a very successful, stimulating and productive summit this year. The deliberations in Delhi will provide a solid basis for us to set the
stage for a successful outcome at Cancun. Many useful ideas have emerged both on the process as well as the substance. I wish to thank all our distinguished guests for having made the journey to Delhi, to take part in the Conference. I trust that you had a
pleasant and productive stay with us and we look forward to welcoming you again next year.

New Delhi
February 7, 2010

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MEA1881319191Appointment of Executive Officer, Haj Committee of India, Mumbai.The undersigned is directed to state that one post of Chief Executive Officer in Haj Committee (India), a statutory body functioning under the Administrative Control of this Ministry, is falling vacant soon. Its office is located in Mumbai.
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MEA1919118814Statement by Mr. Shyam Saran, Special Envoy of PM on Climate Change, at the Closing Plenary Session of AWG - LCA of UNFCCC Climate Change MeetingMr. Chairman,